Italian Fascist Era Perfin

I have been around here long enough to know if I reach out for information on a stamp or cover someone will have the answer. I have what is most likely a Italy Scott #218 25 cent green Victor Emmanuel perfin...it looks like the figure on the left still has a couple of "chads" to be poked out could be an S the middle one is a C for certain not sure about the third one ! Appreciate any info on perfins from that era !

Looks like BCI, Banca Commerciale Italiana, I've seen it many times on 1930s stamps.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banca_...ale_Italiana

Thanks Doug ! I never fail to get the answer here !

Amazingly, the fasces, the symbol of the Fascist party, appeared on the back of US Mercury dimes all through WW2. It is unthinkable that could occur in current times with our better appreciation of the importance of symbolism. You wonder what the US Mint officials were thinking in the 1930's.

The fasces on the "Mercury" dime preceded the establishment of Italy's Fascist party by three years. The fasces itself dates back to Roman times, and it is still utilized in numerous ways by the U.S. Government, so it is not as dire a symbol as you believe.

Read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces and you will likely edit your post.

This was a symbol co-opted by tyrants. It is not inherently bad, and it has significant Classical roots.

The same could be said of the swastika, though you'd find fewer governmental agencies willing to support the innocent and positive connotations and denotations of that symbol these days.

The lucky symbol swastika has made it onto many stamps pre-Hitler era, like the 1931 Newfoundland airmail C8. It's probably just blind luck it has never shown up on a US stamp design. Classic or not - I think the Mercury dime should have had a design change after Pearl Harbor.

For hundreds of years, American Indians (especially in the southwest) used a "backwards" swastika as a design motif in their blankets and baskets. I also have several 1907-12 postcards using the swastika as a good luck symbol.