Perfins

Hi All. I am wondering about perfins in general. When a pattern is created, I understand that they are all registered, but, who are they registered with? I know that the first perfin invented by Joseph Sloper was registered with the patent office, but, as the different countries around the globe started producing these, where were the individual patterns registered? Were they registered at a patent office, or with the GPO of any given country? Thanks a lot.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I got some answers from another fprum, so, I will share them here as well. They are the following:

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In the US and UK, it was the process of "perforating" or the Perforating Machine that was "patented". I suppose that one could say that certain perfin patterns were "registered" with certain companies, institutions or government agencies, as they would require approval by various boards. Such as Colleges, Universities and governmental offices. <> Given the German policy of meticulous record keeping, it is possible that such a "registry" of German perfin patterns could exist. <> The Russian Post Office probably had such as record as most Russian Post Offices used perfins.

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BF Cummins Perforator Company had a "certificate of identification" that it issued with the various early perfin patterns. This certificate was a "selling policy", as Cummins did not keep a record of individual pattern. It is unknown if the American Perforator Company kept any such records.

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Individual perfin patterns were not "registered" with any government agency. Joseph Sloper kept records of the patterns he used to produce various patterns for his customers. Sloper's perforators were owned by Sloper's Works (so I guess you could say they were "registered" with Slopers. Most perfins of England were made by Mailing Companies that perfinned the stamps for the customers. The customer did not own the perforator. These perforator companies charged the customer a "fee" over and above the cost of the postage for the process.

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Chimo

Bujutsu

I believe the information you provided is essentially correct. My first question was going to be whether you were referring to perfins from the US or Canada or another country, as the laws and requirements did vary.

As I understand it, the generation from which most perfins originate came about in the time when it was commonplace to use postage stamps as payment for small amounts, and were even exchangeable at the post office for cash. Thus, the reason why many companies wanted to use perfins as a way to reduce theft of stamps from employees.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe the USPOD enforced any penalty against those who may have used perfins illegally. Instead, they provided the information on questionable mail back to the company owning the perfin who had their own internal procedures in place to deal with this type of theft.

The first US perfins were approved for use in 1908 as documented in this "Order of the Postamaster General" as it appeared in the Postal Bulletin of 04/09/1908:



You may also be interested in this (circa 1920) sample certificate issued by the Cummins Perforator Company to those firms who acquired their perfin equipment:

P.R.R. - Pennsylvania Rail Road



I can't locate the paper that goes with these perfins but one jumps out at me -ATC American Tobacco Company



3 more-

Of course, the last scan "B&O" is the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

And a couple I know of from your previous scan:

Thanks...again! lol I believe it was you that decoded all of these at one point? I had mad a list of them but am unable to currently locate it? I'm very organized so it's got to be right around here someplace?

Not me, but I did find the previous thread where these stamps were identified. The link is below:

https://goscf.com/t/29998

I was thinking that the different countries varied, but, was wondering if any given country had a listing or a location where these different patterns were pooled / registered.

Anyway, I did get a satisfactory answer (shown above) from a member of the Perfins Society.

I hope it helps?

Chimo

Bujutsu

saw online a perforation machine at auction

https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDet...onTopSection

I found a block of Scott #907 this morning with a perfin that reads LSB. I thought this would fit nicely into this thread.

LSB= L137= Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA.
Usage 1912 to 1963.

Thanks for the identification PoStat4evR.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Do those initials "LSB" on the perfin stand for something or was it just an arbitrary series of letters defining the Dept. of Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA?

wt1: LSB stands for "Livestock Sanitary Board" . There you go.

Thanks for that clarification.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Interesting. In fact, it prompted me to look up how that Board worked within the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture and here's the explanation:



According to this article, the Pennsylvania Livestock Sanitary Board was first established in 1895: