It's more of a challenge to collect perfins on cover...
Wow!
Those covers are GREAT!
I am thinking it's kind of a challenge to acquire Perfins.
I was looking online just for a "starter lot" of them, to kind of dip a toe into, but was not finding many choices.
So the search continues.
I'm also on a trek to research them as well.
Thanks for sharing!
JR
@ JohnnyRockets:
Whoa there, boy! Hold on! Just kidding.
As you continue with your new hobby, you'll find an endless supply of collecting possibilities, and an endless supply of sellers/dealers wanting to separate you from your money. It would be better, for now, to gradually accumulate a wide variety of items that interest you, and learn what you can about them, before deciding to specialize. If you can find a small accumulation of perfins at a dirt cheap price, sure, go for it. But don't get sucked into buying every perfin you can find, along with albums, stock books, literature, etc., because if you do, sure as shooting you'll discover something else that interests you even more.
An important thing to learn is that most stamps, including perfins, are common as dirt. The challenge is to find undamaged, attractive copies of any given stamp that you can afford to buy. Once, when I was collecting Canada, I went to a stamp shop in Vancouver looking for a copy of one stamp, issued in the 1950s. I told the dealer what I wanted, and he took me into his "back room," went to a wall where shelves were filled to overflowing with shoe boxes, took down one, and handed it to me. It was filled with bundles of the stamp I was looking for. There must have been several thousand copies of that stamp in that shoebox. While it may be a challenge to find a particular stamp — a variety, one with a SON cancellation, a perfectly centred copy — it's relatively easy to find run-of-the-mill copies. You just have to be patient sometimes.
During my time as a "serious" collector (now about 40 years), I've collected used Canada, Canada "Admirals," mint and used Denmark and Ireland, used U.S., sailing ships on stamps, and U.S. pre-cancels. I have long since given up on all of them, and in fact still have only the used U.S. collection, although I rarely add to it. I learned a lot about philately, but it took about 20 years to determine what interested me the most (thematic collections of stamps, covers, and postcards representing six particular propeller airliners, astronomy, RAF/RCAF Bomber Command, the Battle of the Atlantic, the wartime economy of Great Britain, combat medicine, and the Vietnam War).
As you can tell, I am not a specialist. I am very much a generalist, at least when it comes to collecting. (When it comes to marriage, my wife insists that I specialize in her!) When I go to stamp shows, I always find something that insists that I buy it. I've known specialists who are so specialized that they have everything and complain that they can't find anything to buy in stamp shows. I advocate a middle ground, where the challenge of collecting will inspire you, not bore you to death.
Bob
I am having fun watching you discover new interests Johnny.
I collect stamps with perfins, but as shown above, it is even more rewarding to find the on cover.
That's a great cover!
That is a cool cover which begs the question...
Did Enrique ever learn he was accepted to the University of Minnesota??
Or did he live the rest of his life as a bellhop at a hotel in Colon, wondering what could've been!
Perfins are a particular favorite of mine. I don't know why they appeal so much - maybe because they are unique - but I do like them. I don't know how hard they are to get these days - I do see some reasonably priced lots on eBay, and one collection at "Buy it Now" price of $7.99 for a lot of 55. Sorry I'm new here and can't figure out how to post a link yet - I'll have to work on that. But just search eBay "stamp perfin" and you'll find some there.
@Bob,
Wow, thanks for such a long, well thought out and helpful reply! I will genuinely take your words to heart!
I agree, I'm taking my time, buying less, getting a bit more picky with just grabbing everything up. My interests have already changed, or better put, been added to several times.
I am already sliding into a mold of being a generalist to some degree, because try as I might with most of my hobbies, I seem to like to "shake it up" a bit within the hobby, for myself from time to time. I doubt I'd ever be like the guy who can't find anything to buy, because I'm too specialized. At that point, I would say the fun would have started to ebb away for me.
Thanks again Bob, for the GREAT advice! I truly appreciate it!
@Smauggie,
That's a great cover and I really like the combo of Perfins and Covers idea, that's perfect!
@All,
Thanks for your great ideas, advice and help!
JR
You may find a particular series of letters is common to more than one company's perfin.
It is always best where possible to collect them on postcards,cover or piece showing a return address ( or advertising slogan ) to ensure you have the right one.
I don't have many U.S.perfins but I have a few British ones. So for example L.C.C. could be London County Council, Leicestershire County Council, Leicester Cricket Club, Liberty Car Company or any number of others( some of these are made up but you get the picture). They may have slightly different hole arrangements, but unless you have the envelope ( or worst case scenario a postmark ) you have no chance of a positive ID.
I like smauggie's cover, because it 'tells' you who the perfin is for (U of Minn). And, I am like Tom, wanting to 'make up a story' about each cover!
Bob, your shoebox story reminds me of the time an antique dealer friend of mine inadvertantly bought the remainders of a Pittsburgh stamp dealer that had folded. It was 3 or 4 large cartons FULL of stamps, all bound up by string into bundles of 100 stamps each, all the 'same' variety. Only, buried in some of the bundles were some pretty obscure varieties which helped me to largely fill out my collection of Washington-Franklins. MAN, that was fun! I spent months going through that stash. And, it didn't cost me a dime.
-Paul
Hi all,
I have just discovered Perfins!
I now understand what they are. ...for the most part...
I am reading a VERY interesting article about them in a recent magazine that I get, and I also remember seeing these Perfins in with some of my others stamps, and thinking... "these must be junk stamps or something". LOL!
Now I understand that they have quite a "story" behind many of them.
So anyway, now I think I need to look into this area of stamp collecting a bit more!
There are so many facets of stamp collecting that it is truly mind blowing... but tons of fun! ...and apparently nearly endless...
JR
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
It's more of a challenge to collect perfins on cover...
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
Wow!
Those covers are GREAT!
I am thinking it's kind of a challenge to acquire Perfins.
I was looking online just for a "starter lot" of them, to kind of dip a toe into, but was not finding many choices.
So the search continues.
I'm also on a trek to research them as well.
Thanks for sharing!
JR
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
@ JohnnyRockets:
Whoa there, boy! Hold on! Just kidding.
As you continue with your new hobby, you'll find an endless supply of collecting possibilities, and an endless supply of sellers/dealers wanting to separate you from your money. It would be better, for now, to gradually accumulate a wide variety of items that interest you, and learn what you can about them, before deciding to specialize. If you can find a small accumulation of perfins at a dirt cheap price, sure, go for it. But don't get sucked into buying every perfin you can find, along with albums, stock books, literature, etc., because if you do, sure as shooting you'll discover something else that interests you even more.
An important thing to learn is that most stamps, including perfins, are common as dirt. The challenge is to find undamaged, attractive copies of any given stamp that you can afford to buy. Once, when I was collecting Canada, I went to a stamp shop in Vancouver looking for a copy of one stamp, issued in the 1950s. I told the dealer what I wanted, and he took me into his "back room," went to a wall where shelves were filled to overflowing with shoe boxes, took down one, and handed it to me. It was filled with bundles of the stamp I was looking for. There must have been several thousand copies of that stamp in that shoebox. While it may be a challenge to find a particular stamp — a variety, one with a SON cancellation, a perfectly centred copy — it's relatively easy to find run-of-the-mill copies. You just have to be patient sometimes.
During my time as a "serious" collector (now about 40 years), I've collected used Canada, Canada "Admirals," mint and used Denmark and Ireland, used U.S., sailing ships on stamps, and U.S. pre-cancels. I have long since given up on all of them, and in fact still have only the used U.S. collection, although I rarely add to it. I learned a lot about philately, but it took about 20 years to determine what interested me the most (thematic collections of stamps, covers, and postcards representing six particular propeller airliners, astronomy, RAF/RCAF Bomber Command, the Battle of the Atlantic, the wartime economy of Great Britain, combat medicine, and the Vietnam War).
As you can tell, I am not a specialist. I am very much a generalist, at least when it comes to collecting. (When it comes to marriage, my wife insists that I specialize in her!) When I go to stamp shows, I always find something that insists that I buy it. I've known specialists who are so specialized that they have everything and complain that they can't find anything to buy in stamp shows. I advocate a middle ground, where the challenge of collecting will inspire you, not bore you to death.
Bob
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
I am having fun watching you discover new interests Johnny.
I collect stamps with perfins, but as shown above, it is even more rewarding to find the on cover.
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
That's a great cover!
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
That is a cool cover which begs the question...
Did Enrique ever learn he was accepted to the University of Minnesota??
Or did he live the rest of his life as a bellhop at a hotel in Colon, wondering what could've been!
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
Perfins are a particular favorite of mine. I don't know why they appeal so much - maybe because they are unique - but I do like them. I don't know how hard they are to get these days - I do see some reasonably priced lots on eBay, and one collection at "Buy it Now" price of $7.99 for a lot of 55. Sorry I'm new here and can't figure out how to post a link yet - I'll have to work on that. But just search eBay "stamp perfin" and you'll find some there.
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
@Bob,
Wow, thanks for such a long, well thought out and helpful reply! I will genuinely take your words to heart!
I agree, I'm taking my time, buying less, getting a bit more picky with just grabbing everything up. My interests have already changed, or better put, been added to several times.
I am already sliding into a mold of being a generalist to some degree, because try as I might with most of my hobbies, I seem to like to "shake it up" a bit within the hobby, for myself from time to time. I doubt I'd ever be like the guy who can't find anything to buy, because I'm too specialized. At that point, I would say the fun would have started to ebb away for me.
Thanks again Bob, for the GREAT advice! I truly appreciate it!
@Smauggie,
That's a great cover and I really like the combo of Perfins and Covers idea, that's perfect!
@All,
Thanks for your great ideas, advice and help!
JR
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
You may find a particular series of letters is common to more than one company's perfin.
It is always best where possible to collect them on postcards,cover or piece showing a return address ( or advertising slogan ) to ensure you have the right one.
I don't have many U.S.perfins but I have a few British ones. So for example L.C.C. could be London County Council, Leicestershire County Council, Leicester Cricket Club, Liberty Car Company or any number of others( some of these are made up but you get the picture). They may have slightly different hole arrangements, but unless you have the envelope ( or worst case scenario a postmark ) you have no chance of a positive ID.
re: Yet another Newbie discovery! Perfins!
I like smauggie's cover, because it 'tells' you who the perfin is for (U of Minn). And, I am like Tom, wanting to 'make up a story' about each cover!
Bob, your shoebox story reminds me of the time an antique dealer friend of mine inadvertantly bought the remainders of a Pittsburgh stamp dealer that had folded. It was 3 or 4 large cartons FULL of stamps, all bound up by string into bundles of 100 stamps each, all the 'same' variety. Only, buried in some of the bundles were some pretty obscure varieties which helped me to largely fill out my collection of Washington-Franklins. MAN, that was fun! I spent months going through that stash. And, it didn't cost me a dime.
-Paul