Perfin ID Help

Help with perfin ID please. I've got another 10 if you're willing. Thanks!

I placed blue dots where a pin didn't finish cutting out a hole.

I can identify a few:

Row 1, Stamp 3 is a poorly perfinned "DuPont" as in DuPont Chemical Co. Actually the correct name is E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company, Incorporated.

Row 1, Stamp 2 "WUT" is an early Western Union Telegraph perfin. Most of the later perfins simply used two letters "WU".

Row 1, Stamp 4 is probably a poorly perfinned "B&O" as in Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Row 2, Stamp 2 "NP" is Northern Pacific Railway.

Row 2, Stamp 3 "DH/NYC" is from the Department of Health, New York City.

Row 2, Stamp 4 "STL/SW" is St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company.

Thanks wt1. I'm having a hard time imagining the B&O though. BTW these are all on "2c" Washingtons.

You may be right about B&O, it was just a guess. Your stamp is likely oriented upside down ... if I orient it the other way, it looks like this, which leads me to think maybe the first letter is an "R"?

I have no idea what it is regardless of orientation. Flipping it horizontally leads to this:



The single blue dot is a well defined area where the pin didn't "punch through." Otherwise the stamp's surface doesn't give any other clues.

I would have to say B&O. The distinctive shape of the "&" is ono shown on the B&O and one other (B&C). The B&C doesn't fit with size. Now which B&O it is (was) would have to be determined by matching it over the pattern in the catalog.
However the slant of the bar in the "B" matches with a B279.5 pattern of the B&O.
Hoope this helps...

The rest are:
Row 1 # 1 = Swift & Co., Chicago, IL (Pattern S2.16A)
Row 1 # 2 = Western Union Telegraph Co, Chicago, IL (Pattern W203.6)
Row 1 # 5 = Illinois Central, Chicago, IL (Pattern flipped upside down)
Row 2 # 1 = Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co, East Pittsburg, PA (Pattern W80)
Row 2 # 5 = Swift & Co., St Joseph, MO (Pattern S338.2)

WT1 was correct on the others.

All of it helps very much. Thank you guys. I take it that all are common.

These are the last of my unknown perfins:

Here are a few answers:

Your #3 perfin may look a bit odd near the left and right perfs. The reason is that the perfin happened to hit the perfs and what looks like a "DP" is actually supposed to be a "PD" as in Parke Davis Pharmaceuticals.

#4 "TRAV" is Traveler's Insurance Co.

#5 "GT" is Guaranty Trust Company, New York

#8 "USP" may be United States Steel Company Products, New York, however, someone with a catalog may have to positively identify this one, since "USP" perfins are also known for Union Steel Products and United States Pencil Co.

OK, here goes.....
#1 = have no idea
#2 = NA/RY Northern Alabama Railroad, Washington, DC. (C+ rating for complete pattern, not partial.) (PATTERN N20)
#4 = TRAV (pattern T81) TRAVELERS INSURANCE CO., HARTFORD, CT.
#6 = AR/CO. (PATTERN A229)AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTER CO., NEWARK, NJ
#7 = BRD (PATTERN B204) BLUE RIDGE DISPATCH, BOSTON, MA C+ RATING
#8 = USP (PATTERN U87) UNITED STATES STATIONERY CO., NY, NY
#9 = C(3) (PATTERN C417) FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF PHILADELPHIA, PHILADELPHIA, PA
#10 = [CP](A) (PATTERN C264) CLUETT PEABODY & CO, INC., TROY, NY

To go out on a limb, could #1 be one of the GE (General Electric) local patterns punched poorly, then turned 180 degrees and punched poorly again? The part that jumps out at me being the cross bar of the G. Any chance it has a cancel or precancel on it to identify a town of use?

#1 reveals no clues from the face. The idea of being punched twice seems possible. Is it normal for the pins to not be in an orderly grid?

I stared at the stamp much closer to look for incompletely punched holes and also "filled" in the ones with paper fibers. Hopefully it's easier to visualize.

It is not likely a GE pattern. There are no 3 topped G patterns except one and it doesn NOT have any surrounding outpunches. There is also NO GE patterns with the lower 3 outpunches.

OK, figured it out. It looks like a AM/ICE pattern. American Ice Company. The outboard dots look like it is pattern A187.3.



Whereas, if this were a complete pattern, it would hold a B+ rating ($10-15). It isn't and other than being able to figure out which pattern it is for your records, it would maybe get a rather a low value ($50 cents to $1.00 maybe tops) item.

NOTE: If you are going to seriously get into Perfins, join the Perfins Club.

Anyone care to help me ID a few of mine?



I should point out that perfin (A) is on a Columbus, OH precancel.

Perfin (B) is on a New York, NY precancel.

Perfin (C) is on a Philadelphia, PA precancel (Special Delivery Stamp).

Perfin (D) is on a Chicago, IL precancel.

Perfin (E) is on a Special Delivery Stamp (no precancel).

Perfins (F), (G), (H) and (I) are all on New York, NY precancels.

Perfin (J) is on a Milwaukee, WI precancel.

Perfins (K), (L) and (M) are all on Chicago, IL precancels. (Possibly "CC" is Cook County?)

Wow, good eyes PoStat4evR! Thank you and wt1 again.