Newbie Question

Have been more of a coin collector than anything, but am expanding my collection to include stamps. (stamps are an affordable way to feed my addiction until I can save enough money for the less common coins I need).
Anyway, I have recently started to really study and work on the stamps, and ran into a situation that I am confused about.... perforations.

some issues of stamps are listed as:

• perf. 12
• perf. 12x11
• perf. 12½x11½, 11½

so, I am assuming that means:

• perf. is 12 on all 4 sides?
• perf. is 12 on 2 sides, 11 on the other 2? (does it discern between which would be the vertical sides vs. the horizontal sides??)
• 2 different stamps with different perfs. of each type above??

my main concern is the 3rd situation above. being the OCD type that I am, I guess now I will have to go back through a lot of my collection to determine which I have, and start pursuing the other type (assuming I am correct in my above assumption)

Kuhil:

Welcome to stamp collecting, the world's most popular hobby!

Perforations are used to easily separate stamps. Stamp collectors measure them using a perforation guage. A perforation guage shows how many teeth are in a 2 cm distance.

Perforation guages are a standard to the stamp collector's outfit.

If you are going to get interested in stamp collecting, I would suggest you purchase a simple handbook on the basics of stamp collecting. It would certainly help you out. I am sure the coin collecting hobby has the same sort of book on how to handle coins, when or when not to clean a coin, etc. Same sort of information for stamp collecting would be in this sort of book.

Keep asking questions!

David

Hi Kuhli

Perf 12x11 means perf 12 are the horizontal sides and perf 11 the vertical sides.
You see ,. it's perf-ectly simple !

Londonbus1.....As David said, a perf gauge is essential

Kukli you have answered all three of your inquiries correctly. I used to confuse this one when I first started collecting. Just remember the first number is always top and bottom. The second number is always the sides.
As in coins with mint marks (S,D, etc.) this is how alike stamps are identified. And there are yet e few other ways to identify alike stamps.

Just to clarify (and complicate things)...

The convention used for the number sequence in perforations is actually clockwise starting from the top (i.e., for rectangular stamps -- top, right, bottom, left; e.g., perf 12x11x12x11). When all 4 sides are the same, or opposite sides are the same, then the additional numbers for each side are not necessary. Almost all stamps fall into those 2 categories.

There are some very unusual (not rare) examples of all 4 sides having different perforations. The classic example is the perforation varieties of the 1906 stamps of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Because the actual 4-sided compound perforation will vary according to plate position, Scott does not elaborate and list out all the known combinations (only puts the known perforation numbers in the listing header). The perforation 13 variety listed in Scott for that stamp is perforated 13 on ALL sides (and is actually rather difficult to find).

Which brings about a comment on how Scott lists perforations, because eventually you will run into this. When a perforation variety is listed with the stamp catalog number, that perforation applies ONLY to that stamp. When multiple perforations are listed in the HEADER, sometimes Scott will tell you in the header which stamp has which perforation. However, if only multiple perforations are listed in the header, that means that the stamps in that block of listings are known to exist in one or more of those perforations, and Scott has chosen not to assign minor Scott numbers to them. When the header says "also compounds", that means that various combinations of the stated perforations are also known to exist, but are too many to list.

So in the 3 examples you listed, it does make a minor difference whether they are listed with a specific stamp, or in the header of a block of listings. When no perforation is listed, then the perforation from the preceding listing applies.

Finally, except for modern US stamps, Scott uses 0.5 increments in measuring perforations. Unfortunately, quite a few stamps actually were perforated with X.25 or X.75, especially the British Commonwealth issues of the 1960s. This may cause you some confusion when measuring (at least it confused me). Most of the European catalogs will list the ACTUAL decimal perforation (not rounded off).

Sometimes you have to forget the teeth and just enjoy your stamps!

No question is too simple! It's my replies that make it complicated!
k

Tip I learned way back when:

When trying to remember what sides are which in regard to compound perforations, just remember the word "Topside".

Hello Kuhli......

The info given by the other folks is about complete so I won't add to what's been posted and possibly confuse you even more.

But, the perf types mentioned generally are found on older paper stamps. The new plastic types of stamps with die cut serpentine perfs are found with a variety of perfs that measure x.2, x.25, x.4, x.50, x.6, x.75, x.8 and so on. These can only be measured with the newer clear plastic perf gauges. Anyone that collects stamps should have at least one of each type and be well acquainted with using them.....in my opinion. There are many stamps both old & new that have perf varieties, and the difference in value can be very low and/or very high.

Old metal types.....generally found for under $5.00






New clear plastic......generally found for about $6.00-7.00