A primer on one of the fundamental tools of philately, the stamp tong. ~ Published: 2008-08-27 08:40:17

Practical Advice on Stamp Tongs

By Jeffrey A. Walker

Some of my favorite memories as a collector come from my childhood. My school library had a copy of Ernest Kehr's book "My Hobby is Collecting Stamps." I was fascinated with the book, and checked it out of the library quite often. Just a few years ago, I purchased a copy of that book for my library. Looking at it now, it doesn't seem as impressive as it did to a little boy. Still, it is a book that brought stamp collecting into my life. I still enjoy taking it off the shelf once in a while and paging through it. Lots of good memories in there.

First Steps

A common theme of stamp collecting books like Ernest Kehr's, is to educate the beginning collector. One of the basic skills needed by all philatelists is the ability to use stamp tongs.

According to the experts, stamps should never be handled by ones fingers. Fingers are dirty, and contain oils and dirt that can damage stamps. Even with the use of tongs, I would strongly advise a collector to wash with soap and water, and throughly drying their hands before handling stamps. I would also not recommend sorting your stamps after eating a bag of potato chips!

Some collectors still privately handle stamps at home, but please consider the use of tongs always when you handle a dealer or friends stamps, especially valuble stamps, or stamps that have not been used. Not using tongs in these cases is disrespectful of others property.

I have also found, by experience (the hard way), that if you sit down to your collection after a shower, make sure you're hair is completely dry, otherwise, prepare to have drops of water on your album pages and (formally) mint stamps!

A Variety of Tongs

Tongs come in a large spectrum of prices. Your decision on what tongs you purchase depends on your budget, but I would suggest saving to buy the best you can afford. Tongs are not an expensive outlay. High-end professional stamp tongs can be had for well under $20. Don't try to cut costs here. When I was a very young collector, I was very proud of my $3.95 tongs, because it was what I could afford at age 10. I used them way into into adulthood, until I discovered how comfortable a more expensive pair of tongs felt in my hand. The difference really made collecting easier and more fun.

In addition to price range, stamp tongs come in a several tip shapes. There are tongs with rounded tips, spade tips and one with sharp points accurately called "lethal" tips. Tongs also come in short and long lengths.

My personal advice to you is to look seriously at the longer tongs rather than the shorter length tongs, from physics class we have learned that the longer tong will have a better "mechanical advantage" thus taking less effort to close them. This equates to more stamp work with less hand strain.

For a new collector, I would recommend a rounded tip tong instead of a spade or lethal tip. A good example would be a ShowGard 904. With a tong like this, you can get used to working with them without the risk of piercing your favorite stamps.

Lethal tip tongs (such as the ShowGard 902) are meant for experienced philatelists and dealers. When properly employed, they have a high degree of accuracy and speed of work. It is a good goal to work toward skills with a lethal tong.

Subtle Differences

Believe it or not, there is even subtle differences between tongs of the same make and model. If you have the opportunity, purchase you tongs from a local dealer instead of mail order, and try several of his in stock. The pressure required to grip varies considerably. Find a pair that has a good "hand feel" for you.

Lethal tongs are called that for a reason, never carry a lethal tongs in your shirt pocket, especially while driving. The tips are very accurate and ground to a very sharp blade. The thought of having an accident with one in my pocket makes me shudder.

Besides your own safely, consider purchasing a leather case for your tongs. They are not expensive, and a good pair of tongs can be ruined or damaged by being dropped.

If you are the unfortunate person who has dropped tongs from your desktop to the floor, be sure and run your fingers along the tip to make sure that there are no nicks or bent blade marks. If they exist, you can sometimes sand them off. Using a tongs with nicks on it can damage every stamp handled by it.

Along the same subject, never use "tweezers" like the tool in your bathroom that removes slivers as a stamp tongs. The same sharp points that can make it easy to get out a sliver can accurately damage every stamp you handle with it.

Taking Care

Consider when inserting or removing expensive stamps in glassines or 102 cards with plastic windows, be sure to take your time and not be in a rush. I have not had personal experience, but I heard of one person carelessly rip a very expensive stamp in half while handling it at a stamp shop. Just like at an antique store "You break it, you buy it" is usually the rule.

Every collector, sooner or later, finds a pair of tongs that fit them like a glove. When you find yours, be sure to keep it in a safe place, and never take it to stamp club or stamp shows where you can lose it. Finding a replacement can be very difficult.

The proper choice of stamp tongs can make your collecting time easier and more fun. Besides protecting your stamps, with practice, stamp tongs can do a multitude of collecting tasks that are difficult to do with human fingers. Just like getting used to eating Chinese food with chopsticks, using tongs will be difficult at first, but with time, it will become very easy and quick, and you'll wonder how you ever lived without them.