Recent Articles

Recent articles about the Silver Jubilee

Updated April 2008

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. for registered mail

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

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

This rule would not seem to apply to private perfins judging by this used example (left) from Elder Smith & Co, Adelaide.

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

3d mint, perfinned W over A - Western Austraia

N.B. To refer to earlier articles, click on the title below: