Writing on the backs of Stamps, yes or no?

You can always cover it up with a hinge.

Will probably be back into Australia later today, and later this week will be going out with John to spend my birthday present... not sure what I will be spending it on... yet.

Greetings Mr. Philatarium
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Yes, passing comments have been made on the old Stamp Bears ver. 1.0, but there never has been a full-fledge discussion (as far as I know). 
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Here is my take on the situation:
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The old masters have told me to never, ever write on the back of stamps.  Yes, I can see why.  To me, however, pencil jots on the back of used stamps fall into the same consideration as hinges/mounts.  Would I think twice about using a hinge on a minimum CV stamp?  Not at all.  Would I jot a catalog number on the back of a used minimum CV?  Yes, but with restraints.  I try to make the number as unobtrusive as possible.  I would never use a number one lead pencil, only a number two (soft lead).  I never press hard and never leave an impression.  And I only jot the number down if I am identifying a large passel of stamps at one time.  I would never scribble on the back of a "Blue Nose" or a U.S. airmail Zeppelin (if by chance I ever come across one of those).
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I do not sell stamps.  I understand folks will complain about a minute smudge on the reverse of an otherwise pristine stamp.  I am not one of those folks, but I can see these anal snob's their point of view.  I am much more concerned about the face appearance, centering, perforations, and cancelations.  Once a stamp gets placed into an album the back side of the stamp is rarely ever seen again.
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When trading with people I normally erase any numbers that I may have written.  A gum erasure ("Staedtler Mars-Plastic) removes all traces of any light (and usually heavy) pencil marks.  If one didn't know it was there they would be hard pressed (no pun intended) to tell the difference.
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That's my take.
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Respectfully,

Gordon Lee

Admin Bear, thread moved....thought this was still a good area to keep the new thread in though.

My 2c? It irks me when I see pencil marks on the backs of stamps. I am, if anything, a low-end collector. I am happy to fill spaces and find interesting varieties on cheap stamps but I still find it irritating when someone deliberately writes on the back of a stamp.

I avoid buying stamps with numbers written on the reverse side especially mint stamps. I have bought some used collections and found that there are some with pencil markings so I will offer them to fellow collectors if they are duplicates of stamps I have. I will swap out a pencil marked stamp from my album when I get a better stamp. I view these as stamps with minor hidden faults.
Mike

Kannik, thank you for being an awfully good sport about all of this.

I was coming back here tonight to say that I regretted quoting you directly. Had I known this was going to start a discussion, and a new thread, I would've just phrased it in a more general way and asked if the board had discussed this subject much.

Unfortunately, I didn't make it back in time tonight for that, and I appreciate that you have been very gracious through all this. My hat is off to you!

-- Dave

I do it. unless it's an early 1840's classic or provisional or other really high value stamp then it's fair game. Most only have minimal re-sale value anyway and so what's the problem? I want to clarify that this shouldn't ever be done to a mint stamp but a used stamp is yours so do what you want I say!

I feel similar to Mr. Gordon Lee. While I understand the point of view of the others, when I am sorting and cataloguing at the same time a light pencil notation on the back of a USED stamp helps me later. Would I do this on anything MNH, probably not, but I know there are some wallpaper stamps in my collection that do have pencil marks from me on them.

The only downside is when I get a stamp with a pencil number on the back with no reference to what catalogue is being used and the catalogue number has changed.

All in I subscribe to the school of "It is your collection ... Do with it what you like"

Alyn