Previous Articles 17

Puncturing Oz

3d x2 & 1/- definitive, all perfinned AS&S, (A Simpson & Sons, Adelaide), on a cover to Canada, recently acquired by Neil Donen. Scan by permission of the vendor.

Perfins are a security measure. Usage started in England in 1860, and 1877 saw the first approval for their use in Australia. Much of their history may be found in an article by John Mathews and Neil Donen, (Flagstaff 17). This is just some speculations about their production from some examples to hand. (Some images have been dimmed to emphasise the perfins).

Used examples of Burns Philp & Co Ltd, Townsville


	Upright


	Upright mirror


	Inverted


	To get all four of the aspects above, one might suppose the sheet to have been folded in half, then in half again, before applying the perfin. The positioning of the resultant folded sheet in the jig seems to have been somewhat haphazard - even with state perfins, as shown below. Clearly, the pin design has been arranged for the vertical format of the stamps.


	State perfin examples of G/NSW - Government of New South Wales


	Inverted mirror


	Upright


	Quarter turn clockwise


	Quarter turn anti-clockwise


	Smaller pins

The fourth example above has so many pins missing as to suggest that the jig has had considerable use. Could then the resultant wear be the explanation for the smaller holes?

Returning to the folding of the sheet; presumably such folds were intended to be made in the centre of the gutters. However, there must have been the temptation to fold along the perforations adjacent to the gutter. Should this be the explanation of the offset perfins in the 3d plate 1 block opposite, it looks as if the perforations were followed for both folds.




		2/- mint, perfinned G/NSW - Government of New South Wales



		2/- perfinned ES - Elder Smith & Co.

Asked about the availability of State perfins, a correspondent from the antipodes compared their scarcity to “hens’ teeth”.

Some listings of state perfins omit those of Western Austraila, (right).

It is reported that amongst state perfins, examples of the 2/- value that exist, such as the G/NSW example (left) were perfinned “Per favour”.

This maxim would not seem to apply to private perfins judging by the registration use example from Elder Smith & Co, Adelaide, (left) and the likely air mail use from the Prudential Assurance Company, Sydney, (right).


	It appears that not all perfinning jigs were designed to treat a whole sheet of stamps at one go judging by this 3d stamp, perfinned A.H over & S, (Anthony Horden & Sons of Sydney), where one of the impressions is clearly doubled but without so affecting its neighbouring impression.




		3d perfinned A.H/&S. - Anthony Horden & Sons - with one impression doubled




		3d mint, perfinned W over A - Western Austraia



	2/- perfinned PA/C - Prudential Assurance Co.


	Plate one 3d corner marginal strip/3 perfinned G/NSW and close-up of the middle stamp showing the “apostrophe” flaw


	Recently acquired was this corner marginal strip of three 3d perfinned G/NSW - fortunately without the perfin obscuring the apostrophy flaw between “George” & “V”.


		As a tailpiece, and to show that not all perforating mishaps occur post production of the stamps, a block of 2d from plate 6 with double perforation.

	AJA - April 2008, augmented June 2008