Perfins Ids 1

thanks ahead of time for any help on perfins.

as I look at these perfins ..many of them look like art.

pleases tell me if any are rare or have any value.

I think these are three ID's:

SNJ = State of New Jersey
ATT = American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T)
CNW = Chicago & Northwestern Railway

Not sure, but it's quite likely that:

Encircled "M" = State of Michigan

I'm sure some other collectors will chime in with further information, as there are extensive catalogs on the very subject.

I have a collection of them I'm going to post soon, as I've only positively identified a select few and would like to be able to identify others.

thanks

i think I found one already
row 1 1
chicago and northwestern rr

Time to dig out the US Perfins catalogue. For the rarity factors, E & F are the most common.

Row 1 stamp 1 - C(NW) - Chicago & North Western Railway Company, Chicago IL - perfin pattern C236, rarity factor F, in use from 1938-1954. Note that this one is tricky to identify - the W on your stamp looks more like the one on perfin pattern C235 but the bottom of the C is definitely like that of C236. Perhaps that 1935 stamp sat around in a drawer for a while before being perfinned.

Row 1 stamp 2 - Circle(M) - State of Michigan, Landing MI - perfin pattern M10.6, rarity factor E, in use from 1963-1982. One of a few similar perfins, this was the last one in usage.

Row 1 stamp 3 - another one that's tricky to perfectly identify, there are two similar perfins and the most distinctive difference (to my eye) is on the N. Since your stamp is missing one of the uprights, I can't use that. Following other less obvious clues, I call it S/NJ - State of New Jersey - perfin pattern S191, rarity factor F, in use from 1926-1975.

Row 1 stamp 4 - HPE - Elliott Addressing Machine Company, Boston MA - perfin pattern H160, rarity factor E, in use from 1917-1938. This one has been double perfinned.

Row 1 stamp 5 - this one has earned a listing in the "Confusing Patterns" listing in the catalog, and I'd say they even got it listed under the wrong letter. [CF](o) - Fleishman Transportation Company, New York NY - perfin pattern C133, rarity factor C+, in use from 1908-1917. A similar perfin with one extra pin signifies another office in Cincinnati.

Row 2 stamp 1 - one of four similar perfins. LA/Co - Los Angeles County, Los Angeles CA - perfin pattern L14, rarity factor F, in use from 1938-1965.

Row 2 stamp 2 - DWP - Department of Water & Power, Los Angeles CA - perfin pattern D139, rarity factor E, in use from 1938-1972.

Row 2 stamp 3 - U/OF/M - University of Minnesota, Minneapolis MN - perfin pattern U56, rarity factor F, in use from 1938-1981.

Row 2 stamp 4 - this is the almost identical perfin to the one on row 1 stamp 3, but it's slightly different and has a different listing. S/NJ - State of New Jersey - perfin pattern S191A, rarity factor F, in use from 1938-1985.

Row 2 stamp 5 - ATT - American Telephone & Telegraph Company, New York NY - perfin pattern A272, rarity factor F, in use from 1923-1954.

Row 2 stamp 6 - 2B - Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York NY - perfin pattern Number 12, rarity factor F, in use from 1926-1960.

Ryan

Glad to have those responses, as it's helping me identify some of the same perfins, too.

I may have asked this question in the past, but I'm still a little confused about these two perfins. I was told they are "Texaco" and I agree the star with the "T" in the center is probably correct. The other one with a "T" in the pentagon, I'm not sure about. Is that a different style "Texaco" perfin? One of the reasons I've wondered about it is the "T" in the pentagon is on a Toledo, Ohio precancel and I was wondering if it might more correctly be part of a City of Toledo precancel or possibly from the old Toledo Scales Co.:



Some confirmation will be very helpful. Thanks.

As long as I'm on the subject on Perfins, here's another I have a question about. "Cinn" suggests to me "Cincinnati", but it's on a Chicago, IL precancel. Any ideas?



And finally, for a trivia question: When were the first perfins authorized for use in the US? I have come across a few of them on 1909 Washington/Franklins, and I thought that was quite early for perfins to be applied. Does anyone know for sure?

thanks for the info ryan

i know so little about this collecting area
i assume the rarity factor of a is the most rare
you noted that the one stamp double is that a bit more rare?

Hooray, an opportunity to dig out my other US perfin catalogue, the one dealing specifically with perfinned precancels.

The T inside the pentagon has nothing to do with Texaco, nor with the other guesses. Pentagon(T) - The Toledo Pipe Threading Company - perfin pattern T4, value $0.15.

Regarding the other one (T inside a star), let's look in the other catalogue. It's one of 3 very similar perfins, two of which are almost identical (I only see one pin in a slightly different location). I make it Star(T) - The Texas Company, New York NY - perfin pattern T6A, rarity factor E, in use 1914-1938.



Back into the other catalogue. G(IN)N - Ginn & Company - perfin pattern G101, value $0.15.



From the perfinned precancel catalogue, "The use of perfins was authorized in the United States in April of 1908".

Ryan

Correct, but even your C+ perfin is quite uncommon, in the sense that it's very unlikely to just randomly come across one in a pile of kiloware. These rarity factors are determined through a census of the stamps of the major perfin collectors, plus assorted other collections and duplicate stocks, and then those numbers are doubled in an attempt to account for unknown copies lying around. Perfins with a rarity factor of A will, by that method, have 10 or fewer copies. C+ perfins range from 41 to 80 copies. I don't yet have my perfins organized anywhere close to the point where I can catalogue them, but I'd be shocked if I had any that rare!



I suppose it's more uncommon but I doubt it would be more valuable. It would be like owning a stamp that has been chewed by both a dog and a cat. It might be the only copy of that stamp in the world that has been chewed by both a dog and a cat, but that wouldn't make it valuable. The goal of perfin collecting is in getting a nice copy of the perfin. In Canadian perfinned OHMS collecting, the stamp is worth much less money if the perfin holes land on any of the perforation teeth on the stamp.

Ryan

Thanks for all of this great information.

I just looked up that the "The Texas Company" of East 42nd St., New York, NY was the corporate name of Texaco back in its early days, so technically it does lead to Texaco.