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Initials perforated through a postage stamp to deter theft.
Also known as: SPIFS, Punched stamp
A perfin is a set of initials or a device punched as small holes through a postage stamp. Companies and government departments did it to stop staff removing stamps from the office supply and using or selling them privately: a stamp bearing another organisation's initials is hard to pass on. The practice was permitted by postal administrations, has largely died out, and leaves a distinctive and immediately recognisable trace on surviving mail.
Punches an organisation's initials through a stamp to deter staff from taking stamps for private use, since a stamp visibly marked with somebody else's initials is hard to pass on.
From the 1860s; largely obsolete · Contexts: History, Public information
Was permitted rather than tolerated: postal administrations allowed the practice and set rules for it, which is why perfins are found on official mail as well as on commercial mail.
Contexts: History, Public information
Letters formed from small round holes punched right through a printed stamp, legible from either side and visible as light through the paper.
Both are marks added to a stamp after it is issued.