I’m talking about booklet panes such as the Indian Headdress issue, Scott #2501-2505. And other booklet issues where the stamps on the pane are folded.

I sell strips from the booklet panes because that’s how many collectors want them. They don’t want a full pane; just the strip because that is what’s in their printed album.

In the past, I would unfold the pane and try to tear the strip of stamps apart. However, I’ve had trouble doing that. The perforations are weaker along the fold. When separating the strips, sometimes the perforations along the fold will break too, leaving a strip with perforation separations. The tendency of the paper is to break along the weakened perforations of the fold, instead of continuing on a straight path along the stronger perforations.

I even tried folding the stamps along the perforations of the strip – to help weaken those perforations too in order to make the separation process easier. That technique didn’t improve things very much. The stamps still wanted to separate along the fold.

I’ve since found an easier way to separate the strips with less chance of damage.

I first remove the stamps from the booklet cover completely. That way the cover doesn’t interfere. Instead of unfolding the pane, I leave it folded. Then I separate the stamps into strips. It takes a little more effort, because now I’m separating, say, four stamps at once instead of just two. However, I find that if I’m firmly holding the stamps on the side as I separate the stamps, there is more thickness and support there.

By leaving the pane folded, I can separate the strips more easily with less chance of separating the perforations along the fold. This trick has helped me. I hope it helps you too.