Page 2 - Paul Farrimond: Jamaica- Perfins

Introduction

"Perfins" are stamps with perforated initials, typically an abbreviation of a company name, and used for
security reasons to avoid use on non-authorised mail. They are not commonly encountered on Jamaican
stamps, but three companies are known to have used them: The Jamaican Telephone Company (JTC),
The United Fruit Company (UFCo) and possibly The Bank of Nova Scotia (diamond shape).

Jamaica Telephone Company

The Jamaica Telephone Company was incorporated in 1892 in Kingston, and took over the small operations of
the West lndies Telegraph and Telephone Company. lt had a non-exclusive license from the Government to
operate throughout the island. In 1925 Jamaica Telephone obtained a 40-year exclusive license to provide
telephone services in Kingston and St. Andrew, whilst the Jamaican Post Office operated the All Island
Telephone System over the rest of the island.

22-hole perforator

Used on the 1912 King George V head issue and the 1919 pictorial definitive issue

This perfin has been recorded on only six different stamps, and from
legible postmarks the dates of use are from at least 11 March 1914 to
January 1921. All examples appear to bear Kingston cancellations
1 "--'

The perforator was set up with multiple perfins in order to perforate
several stamps at a time. The spacing was set up for the small format
King George V definitive issue, but with the introduction of the larger
format pictorial definitives in 1919 the perfins had to be applied such that
more than one is commonly found on each stamp (e.g. the penny
halfpenny pictorial above).

The perfin was probably applied with a machine such as the 5-die
Cummins N°.52 Postage Stamp Perforator (shown left).