Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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I can't answer the primary question, but perfins were used by companies to help thwart pilfering of postage stamps by its employees.
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I have not seen a perfin seen or mentioned for years on US. I bet self-adhesives could impact the idea and there are other methods to control stamps in companies.
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'
Great question, Virgil !!!
I have not seen one arrive in the mail in decades, but that's hardly definitive ... though perfins are (?almost) always definitives (ouch!).
Finding the LKU (Last Known Use) of a perfin (or each perfin) would be a fun quest.
I would suggest, moreover, that the perfin needs to be on a corner (a cover with a pre-printed company name/address) that matches the stamp, as private / semi-private use of a company's stock might continue a bit.
Nice topic for an exhibit or, to be au courant, an online census.
http://www.perfins.org/ ... ask at The Perfins Club (US) ?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey (who thinks that PSA perfins are a non-starter, for obvious - if mechanical - reasons)
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Good point about the self-adhesives. Also, many of the larger companies contract out their mail services.
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I have seen some from the 1990's but they were applied for philatelic reasons rather than commercial ones.
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I send out accumulated perfins to a collector who advertises in Lynn's. I recently exchanged some questions on current use and he indicated that the last usage (of which I had just sent him) are selected state agencies in the US. The items I had sent him were an agency for the state of NJ, I forget the exact initials and agency.
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Recently I got a small box of US used stamps. Examining the stamps I was surprised to find two Scott #2940 with perfin capital I and this was the reason I raised this question. This stamp was issued in 1995 not too far back in time.
What I do not understand is the work done by the company to perform the perfin on a sheet of 50 stamps. They needed a setup, probably not easy to be obtained. Why they did not use meter stamp?
Anyhow, I will go to perfin site to clarify this question.
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Employees have been known to run their personal mail through an employer's meter machine.
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The employees can steal the perfin stamps and use them privately from home, mailing letters to family members and friends who will not pay attention to what stamp is posted on envelope.
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That's true. I'm just saying what the intent of the perfins is supposed to help thwart.
One place where I used to work, some employees would put their personal mail in the outgoing mail buckets (same sized envelopes as the business mail). initially, it wasn't alot to the point to where it was noticed. The mailroom would simply stack everything up and run the envelopes through the meter machine. As word got out, more and more started doing this. It didn't take long after that when it was discovered, and the practice was stopped.
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For many years in the UK mint stamps could be cashed at a post office for their face value and they were also used widely to pay for small purchases.
Perfins were introduced in the UK to stop stamps being stolen for these purposes.
The post office would not cash stamps which had perfins.
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My youngest perfin defies all of the conventions: it was perf'd in 1986, on a commemorative, and for reasons that had nothing to do with shrinkage.
(For the uninitiated, "shrinkage" is a term-of-art in retailing, and refers to inventory that leaves without benefit of being sold.)
The "SM95" perforated initials refer to General Stanislaw Maczek turning 95 years-of-age.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Maczek
United Kingdom
60th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
Catalog codes:
Michel GB 1065
AFA number GB 1181
Stamp Number GB 1138
Stanley Gibbons GB 1317
Unificato GB 1219
Yvert et Tellier GB 1219
Issued on: 1986-04-21
Perforation: 15 x 14
Printing: Photogravure
Size: 41 x 30 mm
Face value: 17 p - British penny
Print run: 38,501,600
Description: printed se-tenant with SG 1316.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey (who was a little surprised to see that a country that had fits over defacing stamps that bore a portrait of The Queen would, less than 150 years later, be punching holes into her birthday stamp)
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ikeyPikey -
Nice cover, perfin stamp, and story about the General. Thanks for sharing it with the club.
virgilp -
Your 55 cent Alice Hamilton stamp with a capital "I" perfin most likely came from the State of Iowa. I live in Iowa, and I have a bunch of perfins in my collection with the same, or similar perfin. They were still widely used in the 1990s here in Iowa. You are correct in saying a thief could steal a perfin stamp and use it on their personal mail, but an honest person would think twice about getting caught with using one illegally. I think it was more theft deterrent, than theft prevention, and rjan is correct in saying they were used by state government agencies, including state universities. State workers mailed all kinds of stuff with perfin stamps back in the 1990s, and each state worker did not have access to a meter machine everyday. It seems old-fashioned today, but many things are slow to change in state government, including the perfin stamp in Iowa.
angore -
The self-adhesive multi-layer stamp, in smaller sheets than panes of 50, were still made into perfins as shown by the two stamps below, from my collection, with State of Iowa capital "I" perfins dated 2002. The perfin machine had to struggle punching through the stamp layer, the gooey gum layer, and the backing paper layer. The self-adhesive gum most likely "gummed up" the perforator pins over time, or the gummy chad stuck to everything, but it was tried, as shown below. I think the self-adhesive stamp ended the perfin stamp.
Linus
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Look exactly like the perfins on my stamps! It seems to be of a very high quality. As I asked before, is it justified the expense to perform this process? Maybe it is done privately by somebody who like to keep perfins on the market!
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I was reminded of this thread when I saw an article today in the British Perfin Society Bulletin.
This reports that the latest known British "commercial" perfin is one used in July 2015 on a red "1st Large" Machin stamp.
This perfin was used by the Camden & Islington NHS Trust, a public health authority in London.
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11:11:18pm
Yes or no? And what would be the purpose of using perfins today? Thanks, Virgil
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11:25:40pm
re: U
I can't answer the primary question, but perfins were used by companies to help thwart pilfering of postage stamps by its employees.
Login to Like
this post
re: U
I have not seen a perfin seen or mentioned for years on US. I bet self-adhesives could impact the idea and there are other methods to control stamps in companies.
Login to Like
this post
re: U
'
Great question, Virgil !!!
I have not seen one arrive in the mail in decades, but that's hardly definitive ... though perfins are (?almost) always definitives (ouch!).
Finding the LKU (Last Known Use) of a perfin (or each perfin) would be a fun quest.
I would suggest, moreover, that the perfin needs to be on a corner (a cover with a pre-printed company name/address) that matches the stamp, as private / semi-private use of a company's stock might continue a bit.
Nice topic for an exhibit or, to be au courant, an online census.
http://www.perfins.org/ ... ask at The Perfins Club (US) ?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey (who thinks that PSA perfins are a non-starter, for obvious - if mechanical - reasons)
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this post
08:11:30am
re: U
Good point about the self-adhesives. Also, many of the larger companies contract out their mail services.
Login to Like
this post
re: U
I have seen some from the 1990's but they were applied for philatelic reasons rather than commercial ones.
Login to Like
this post
re: U
I send out accumulated perfins to a collector who advertises in Lynn's. I recently exchanged some questions on current use and he indicated that the last usage (of which I had just sent him) are selected state agencies in the US. The items I had sent him were an agency for the state of NJ, I forget the exact initials and agency.
Login to Like
this post
07:50:47pm
re: U
Recently I got a small box of US used stamps. Examining the stamps I was surprised to find two Scott #2940 with perfin capital I and this was the reason I raised this question. This stamp was issued in 1995 not too far back in time.
What I do not understand is the work done by the company to perform the perfin on a sheet of 50 stamps. They needed a setup, probably not easy to be obtained. Why they did not use meter stamp?
Anyhow, I will go to perfin site to clarify this question.
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08:25:43pm
re: U
Employees have been known to run their personal mail through an employer's meter machine.
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this post
10:25:04pm
re: U
The employees can steal the perfin stamps and use them privately from home, mailing letters to family members and friends who will not pay attention to what stamp is posted on envelope.
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this post
11:06:08pm
re: U
That's true. I'm just saying what the intent of the perfins is supposed to help thwart.
One place where I used to work, some employees would put their personal mail in the outgoing mail buckets (same sized envelopes as the business mail). initially, it wasn't alot to the point to where it was noticed. The mailroom would simply stack everything up and run the envelopes through the meter machine. As word got out, more and more started doing this. It didn't take long after that when it was discovered, and the practice was stopped.
Login to Like
this post
re: U
For many years in the UK mint stamps could be cashed at a post office for their face value and they were also used widely to pay for small purchases.
Perfins were introduced in the UK to stop stamps being stolen for these purposes.
The post office would not cash stamps which had perfins.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: U
My youngest perfin defies all of the conventions: it was perf'd in 1986, on a commemorative, and for reasons that had nothing to do with shrinkage.
(For the uninitiated, "shrinkage" is a term-of-art in retailing, and refers to inventory that leaves without benefit of being sold.)
The "SM95" perforated initials refer to General Stanislaw Maczek turning 95 years-of-age.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Maczek
United Kingdom
60th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II
Catalog codes:
Michel GB 1065
AFA number GB 1181
Stamp Number GB 1138
Stanley Gibbons GB 1317
Unificato GB 1219
Yvert et Tellier GB 1219
Issued on: 1986-04-21
Perforation: 15 x 14
Printing: Photogravure
Size: 41 x 30 mm
Face value: 17 p - British penny
Print run: 38,501,600
Description: printed se-tenant with SG 1316.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey (who was a little surprised to see that a country that had fits over defacing stamps that bore a portrait of The Queen would, less than 150 years later, be punching holes into her birthday stamp)
4 Members
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re: U
ikeyPikey -
Nice cover, perfin stamp, and story about the General. Thanks for sharing it with the club.
virgilp -
Your 55 cent Alice Hamilton stamp with a capital "I" perfin most likely came from the State of Iowa. I live in Iowa, and I have a bunch of perfins in my collection with the same, or similar perfin. They were still widely used in the 1990s here in Iowa. You are correct in saying a thief could steal a perfin stamp and use it on their personal mail, but an honest person would think twice about getting caught with using one illegally. I think it was more theft deterrent, than theft prevention, and rjan is correct in saying they were used by state government agencies, including state universities. State workers mailed all kinds of stuff with perfin stamps back in the 1990s, and each state worker did not have access to a meter machine everyday. It seems old-fashioned today, but many things are slow to change in state government, including the perfin stamp in Iowa.
angore -
The self-adhesive multi-layer stamp, in smaller sheets than panes of 50, were still made into perfins as shown by the two stamps below, from my collection, with State of Iowa capital "I" perfins dated 2002. The perfin machine had to struggle punching through the stamp layer, the gooey gum layer, and the backing paper layer. The self-adhesive gum most likely "gummed up" the perforator pins over time, or the gummy chad stuck to everything, but it was tried, as shown below. I think the self-adhesive stamp ended the perfin stamp.
Linus
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10:41:56pm
re: U
Look exactly like the perfins on my stamps! It seems to be of a very high quality. As I asked before, is it justified the expense to perform this process? Maybe it is done privately by somebody who like to keep perfins on the market!
Login to Like
this post
re: U
I was reminded of this thread when I saw an article today in the British Perfin Society Bulletin.
This reports that the latest known British "commercial" perfin is one used in July 2015 on a red "1st Large" Machin stamp.
This perfin was used by the Camden & Islington NHS Trust, a public health authority in London.
1 Member
likes this post.
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