Perfins of South Africa
Perfins are an interesting collecting area, one that was previously quite obscure. In the last few years dedicated research has opened up the field with some useful reference works. I recently used an on-line reference to find out more about the perfins on the block of four stamps below and in the process identified, I believe, where the Cork Canceller was used, always a mystery in 99% of cases!
Circa 1898. Block of four COGH 1896 yellow-ochre with 'C & H' perfin.
Cancelled with 'dumb' Double Circle enclosing 'C' Cork Canceller.
Often confused with 'perforations', perfins apparently stand for 'PERForated INitials or INsignia'. They are the small punched holes that form letters, numbers or logos on stamps. They were primarily used by businesses as a means to identify their stamps and to deter the possibility of their theft by employees and or others. Surprisingly the practice began in Great Britain in about 1867 and has continued into the modern era. They are a popular collecting field but not one that I do. However, from time-to-time I do want to know what they stand for.
For those wanting to identify the company or organistion responsible for the perfins, there are some useful reference sites on the internet. For South African stamps see http://zenius.kalnieciai.lt/africa/south/perfins/cape/cape.html
I recently purchsed some Cork Cancellers, a field I do collect. Some of them had been obliterated with a large double circle enclosing a 'C' in its cenre. This has often been thought and said to be for 'Cape Town'. Interestingly this block of 4 has a 'C & H' perfin, making the stamps once the property of Cleghorn and Harris of Cape Town, a prominent up-market 19th-century department store at the top-end of Adderley Street. What is pleasing about this is that the perfin has helped to establish to some large extent that this particular Cork Canceller WAS used in Cape Town on Cleghorn and Harris' parcels. If only all Cork Cancelled stamps carried a perfin!
This website has grown organically and enormously to the extent that sometimes I forget what information is on it.
This PDF file is one such example. It contains a very useful information on perfins. My thanks to Pam Scarborough for posting it.
The Perfins of the Union and Republic of South Africa. Click here to see it. (Edited and produced by Jeff Turnbull, 2021).
This item has got me excited. It is not the perfin that is so exciting but the fact that it indicates that the cork canceller was used in PE. It is a CoGH 1/- green stamp with single 'bun' cork canceller perforated with the initials 'B G 'L ('Bagshaw, Gibaud and Co.' of Port Elizabeth). This suggests but does not conclusively prove that this nice 'bun' cork canceller was applied in PE. We can now assigned it to PE. You may not believe this but it is something of a breakthrough in cork canceller provenancing. What this post proves is the desperate measures cork canceller collectors will go to to grasp at any straw that suggests which Cape Post Office used it.
Here's another Adderley Street, Cape Town, department store, this time 'J. G.' for John Garlick, known to all as 'Garlicks'. This was included among a lot of Cork Cancellers. This was not cancelled with a typical cock canceller but with a rubber CAPE TOWN parcel stamp.
