Edward VII Perfin Dated Well After His Death

Looking into the history of this stamp. I'm led to believe all perfins on Edward VII were destroyed upon his death in 1910 yet this is postmarked 22 Jan 13.

Why would perfins be destroyed, given that the base stamp could be used until 1970?

perfins had nothing to do with the king.. they are company issued perfins to prevent theft of stamps.

According to the Perfin Society:

King Edward VII

Albert Edward was born on 9th November 1841, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coberg and Gotha. His parents were keen to see that Edward had an education that would prepare him to be the very epitomy of a constitutional monarch. However, despite being given a rigorous educational programme, he did not excel in his studies.

Edward was well travelled - he went to Rome in 1859, Canada and America in 1860, Germany in 1861, and after his father's death in 1861, the Middle East, …, the list goes on and on!

A natural consequence of having the longest reigning monarch as a mother, meant Edward, as heir presumptive, had to wait a long, long time before becoming king.

On the death of Queen Victoria on 22nd January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India, and King of the British Dominions. He chose the regnal name Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward. However, the number VII was often omitted in Scotland, on the grounds that all previous Edwards were English kings who had 'been excluded from Scotland by battle'. A similar situation exists today regarding Queen Elizabeth II, as Queen Elizabeth I was never Queen of Scotland.

The image chosen to illustrate the King is the 'Tyrian plum' of 1910. The stamp printers, De La Rue, had already printed 100,000 sheets (24 million stamps) of this new stamp, but all had to be destroyed due to the death of the King on 6th May 1910. Fortunately a few survived into private hands!

Issue selection - please select an issue of interest.
These stamps are organised under the Perfin Society Issue Code Letters:
Code F - Definitive issue up to 1/-.
Code G - High Values 2/6d, 5/-, 10/-, £1

The 2d Tyrian plum was destroyed - that has nothing to do with perfins.

https://www.warwickandwarwick.com/r...y-rare-stamp

A basic catalogue like the SG Concise - or an online catalogue - would have told you the 4d stamp you posted was printed by De La Rue and, later, by Harrison and Sons. The latter stamp that comes with two perforation gauges (14 and 15 x 14) was not even put to market until July 1911, well after King Edward VII had died.

The 4d stamp with the effigy of King George V replacing your stamp was issued on 15 January 1913, only a few days before your stamp was used. there is a good chance a small post office, still, would have been holding your stamp in stock on the day it was used.

The 2d Tyrian Plum would have been a completely new design. The destruction did not mean the 2d with the effigy of King Edward VII was taken out of circulation and destroyed when the King died. The 2d that would have been replaced by the 2d Tyrian Plum remained in circulation when King Edward VII died. It was printed by De La Rue and, after it lost the contract, by Somerset House. The stamps printed by Somerset House were not put to market until July 1911; again, well after the King had died.

As GeoffHa and Sorsh pointed out, perfins are private perforations added by firms after they had been sold by the Post Office. The Post Office could not destroy them, as they, already, had sold them.

The TC/&S perfin is 1100.06M, and was used from 1900 until 1930.

Thomas Cook & Son Ltd,
H/O Ludgate Circus,
London EC4