Editing Perfin

{{Short description|Stamp with a name perforated across it}}
[[File:British 1951 Festival stamp perfin.jpg|right|thumb|A 1951 perfin stamp of the UK (used by [[Her Majesty's Stationery Office|HMSO]]) showing front (top) and reverse (bottom)]]
[[Image:1900c&sperfin.png|right|thumb|A [[postal stationery]] envelope used from London to Düsseldorf in 1900, with additional postage stamp perfinned "C & S" identifying the user as "Churchill & Sim" per the seal on the reverse shown on inset]]
[[File:Invention perfin G F Redfern and Co. London patent agents.jpg|right|thumb|An unusual curved perfin INVENTION from Patent Agents G.F. Redfern & Co. of London, whose [[telegraphic address]] was also INVENTION]]
[[File:United States perfin stamps.jpg|right|thumb|A large block of United States perfin stamps]]
[[Image:Perfin CPR.jpg|right|thumb|A 1955 Canadian stamp with a CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) perfin]]
In [[philately]], a '''perfin''' is a [[Postage_stamp|stamp]] that has had initials or a name perforated across it to discourage theft. The name is a contraction of '''perf'''orated '''in'''itials or '''perf'''orated '''in'''signia. They are also sometimes called ''SPIFS'' ('''s'''tamps '''p'''erforated with '''i'''nitials of '''f'''irms and '''s'''ocieties).<ref>{{cite news |title=Why does my stamp have a lot of holes in it? |url=https://www.linns.com/news/postal-updates-page/stamp-collecting-basics/1998/january/why-does-my-stamp-have-a-lot-of-holes-in-it-.html |website=Linns Stamp News |publisher=Amos Media Company |accessdate=29 March 2020 |language=en |date=Jan 26, 1998}}</ref>

== History ==
Great Britain was the first country to use perfins, beginning in 1868.<ref>[http://www.norbyhus.dk/perfin18.html Toke Nørby. The Story about the SPIFS and PERFINs] — See Part 4. The Authorizations to Perforate Stamps.</ref>  The practice spread quickly to Belgium (1872); Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland (1876); and Austria (1877); the U.S. finally allowed perfins in 1908.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Rick |title=Perfins: maximum challenge, minimal cost |url=https://www.linns.com/news/postal-updates-page/stamp-collecting-basics/2003/december/perfins--maximum-challenge--minimal-cost.html |website=Linns Stamp News |publisher=Amos Media Company |accessdate=29 March 2020 |language=en |date=Dec 8, 2003}}</ref>

In Britain unused postage stamps could be redeemed for cash at the post office. By agreement with postal authorities, a perfin stamp on a letter could be used only by the owner of the perfin.  Therefore, a stolen perforated stamp would be of no value to the unauthorized bearer.  Thus the use of perfins gave organizations better security over their postage. The demise of the perfin came about by the widespread use of postage meter machines which obviated the need for perfins.

==Officially prepared perfins==
A number of countries have perforated stamps to denote [[official mail]]. Denmark punctured stamps for use by the [[Home Guard (Denmark)|Danish Home Guard]].<ref>[http://home3.inet.tele.dk/oxholm/hjemmevaern/hjv/stamp.htm Brug af frimærker i Hjemmeværnet.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502184348/http://home3.inet.tele.dk/oxholm/hjemmevaern/hjv/stamp.htm |date=2006-05-02 }}</ref> 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 [[Cover (philately)|cover]] that has some company identifying feature, like the company name, address, or even a [[postmark]] or [[Cancellation (mail)|cancellation]] of a town where the company had offices, enhances such a perfin.  Note that the block of 12 stamps illustrated on the right includes two copies of the highly sought-after erroneous 5-cent denomination instead of 2 cents.<ref>"Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalog" (Scott Publishing Co., Sidney, OH, published annually), Vol. 1.</ref>

==Postal stationery==
In addition to stamps, [[postal stationery]] envelopes, [[postcard]]s,<ref>John Barker, ''Perfins through Postal Stationery - Postcards'', The [[Postal Stationery Society]] Journal Vol 14 No 4 p15</ref> and [[newspaper wrapper]]s<ref>John Barker, ''Perfins through Postal Stationery - Newspaper Wrappers'', The Postal Stationery Society Journal Vol 15 No 2 p11 & No 3 p15</ref> were perfinned.

==Perfinned postal orders==
Perfinned [[Postal orders of the United Kingdom|British postal orders]] were used to pay out winning bets on the [[football (soccer)|football]] pools and these [[postal order]]s are very sought after by collectors.

== Specimen stamps ==
[[Specimen stamp]]s have often been perfinned with the word ''specimen'' to denote their status.

== Reply coupons ==
[[International reply coupon]]s have been issued by the Channel Island of Jersey in which the country is identified by the letters 'JE' perfinned into the coupon.<ref>Stephen Tauber, ''Jersey Reply Coupons'', The Perfins Bulletin, Vol. 71, No. 2, p. 37 (Mar/Apr 2017)</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Clubs ==
*[https://www.arge-lochungen.de/ German Perfin Association] - In German
*[https://www.perfins.org/ The Perfins Club] - United States based perfin society
*[https://perfinsoc.org.uk/ The Perfin Society] - Great Britain based perfin society

== External links ==
{{commons category|Perfins}}
*[https://www.rpsc.org/Library/perfins/perfin_officials.htm Canadian Perfin Officials]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080720002757/http://www.kw.igs.net/~mjbehm/  Canadian Perfins of the Victorian Era]
*[http://www.rodsell.com/hkperfins/hkperfin.html Hong Kong Perfins]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110715074521/http://www.philatel2.com/jubilee/id166.htm King George V Silver Jubilee - Perfins]
*[http://www.sossi.org/perfin/spifs.htm Scout PERFINs & SPIFS]
*[http://www.perfin.it/Home.htm Official Site of Italian Perfins] — In Italian and English
*[http://www.cubafil.org/MemberPages/RRoy/Perfins.html Perfins on the Stamps of Cuba]
*[http://www.perfins.com.au/ Perfin stamps of Australia.]

[[Category:Philatelic terminology]]