Perfin
Encyclopedia
Philately
Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...
, a perfin is a stamp that has had initials or a name perforated across it to discourage theft. The name is a contraction of perforated initials or perforated insignia. They are also sometimes called SPIFS (Stamps Perforated with Initials of Firms and Societies).
Perfins are no longer widely used since the introduction of franking machines or postage meters
Postage meter
A postage meter is a mechanical device used to create and apply physical evidence of postage to mailed matter. Postage meters are regulated by a country's postal authority; for example, in the United States, the United States Postal Service specifies the rules for the creation, support, and use...
.
History
Great Britain was the first country to use perfins in 1868. In Britain unused postage stamps could be redeemed for cash at the post office, but a perforated stamp had obviously been stolen so the use of perfins gave organisations better security over their postage.Officially prepared perfins
A number of countries have perforated stamps to denote official mailOfficial mail
Official mail is mail sent from, or by an authorised department of government, governmental agency or international organization and normally has some indication that it is official; a certifying cachet, return address or other means of identity, indicating its user...
. Denmark punctured stamps for use by the Danish Home Guard. The United States has punctured stamps for use by various Federal organisations and Australian states such as Victoria and Queensland used perfins widely on their stamps.
Collecting perfins
Formerly considered damaged and not worth collecting, perforated postage stamps are now highly sought after by specialist collectors. It is often difficult to identify the originating uses of individual perfins because there are usually no identifying features, for instance the Kodak company used a simple K as their perfin, but on its own a stamp perforated K could have been used by several other users. A K perfin still affixed to a coverCover (philately)
In philately, the term cover pertains to the outside of an envelope or package with an address, typically with postage stamps that have been cancelled and is a term generally used among stamp and postal history collectors. The term does not include the contents of the letter or package, although...
that has some company identifying feature, like the company name, address, or even a postmark
Postmark
thumb|USS TexasA postmark is a postal marking made on a letter, package, postcard or the like indicating the date and time that the item was delivered into the care of the postal service...
or cancellation of a town where the company had offices, enhances such a perfin.
Postal stationery
In addition to stamps postal stationeryPostal stationery
A piece of postal stationery is a stationery item, such as a stamped envelope, letter sheet, postal card, lettercard, aerogram or wrapper, with an imprinted stamp or inscription indicating that a specific rate of postage or related service has been prepaid...
envelopes, post cards, and newspaper wrappers were perfinned.
Perfinned postal orders
Perfinned British postal orders were used to pay out winning bets on the footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
pools and these postal order
Postal Order
In the United Kingdom , a Postal Order is used for sending money through the mail. In the United States, this is known as a Postal money order...
s are very sought after by collectors.
Specimen stamps
Specimen stampSpecimen stamp
A specimen stamp is a postage stamp or postal stationery indicium sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries....
s have often been perfinned with the word specimen to denote their status.
Clubs
- The Perfins Club - United States Perfins
- The Perfin Society - Great Britain Perfins
- Perfin Club of New Zealand and Australia
- German Perfin Association - In German
- Dansk Perfin Samlerklub. Danish Perfin Society — In Danish and English
- Netherlands Perfin Society