The Story about Danish PERFINs

Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Mr Erik Jensen, The Danish Post & Telegraph Museum, Copenhagen, and to Mr Karsten Hagsten, treasurer of the Danish Postal History Society, for valuable help with information for this article.

What about PERFINs in Denmark?
In "Tidsskrift for Postvæsen" (The Post Magazine), Vol 7, August 1877¹ we, for the first time in Denmark, can read about the perforated stamp:

"Gjennemhulning af Frimærker
Efterat man i den engelske Forretningsverden længe havde gransket over, ved hvilke Kontrolforholdsregler det skulde være muligt at forebygge Underslæb med Frimærker af det underordnede Personale, opfandt en Hr. Joseph Sloper i London et Stempel, der betegnede vedkommende Afsenders Firma, og hvormed man, uden at beskadige Frimærket eller tilintetgjøre dets Fuldgyldighed, eller væsentligt forandre dets ydre Form, kunde gjennemhulle det, medens paa den anden Side Frimærkets Benyttelse af en uvedkommende tredie Person derved vanskeliggjordes.
    Den engelske Postbestyrelse tillod Benyttelsen af saadanne Stempler, forudsat at Frimærkerne ligefuldt mod Sikkerhed kunde kjendes som ægte, og ikke tidligere brugte. I Juni Maaned f. A. blev det af den tydske og belgiske Postbestyrelse tilladt at gjennemhulle Frimærkerne paa den anførte Maade. Samme Tilladelse har den franske Postbestyrelse givet fra dette Aars Begyndelse og for det Østerrig-ungarske Monarki er en lignende givet i dette Foraar.
    Hos os er Tilladelse til at benytte slige Stempler ifjor og iaar givet et Par kjøbenhavnske Firmaer, der have andraget derom. Hullerne i Stemplerne angive Forbogstaverne til vedkommende Firmaers Navne, hvilke da træde frem i Frimærket og gjør dette kjendeligt fra andre.

(The Danish text translated into English):
"Punching of Stamps
After a long time during which the English business community had been thinking of a method to prevent fraudulent use of postage stamps by subordinate employees, a Mr Joseph Sloper from London, invented a Punching machine which could identify a specific firm, and through its use, without damaging the stamp nor destroy its validity or changing its form, one could punch holes through the postage stamp, thereby making it difficult for unauthorised people to use the stamp. The English Postmaster General permitted the use of such punching machines as long as the postage stamps could be recognized as genuine and had not been previously used.
    In June 1876 the German and the Belgian Postmaster Generals permitted the use of this stamp punching machine in this manner. Earlier that year the French Postmaster General permitted the use in France and the Oesterian-Hungarish Postmaster General gave similar permission in the spring of 1876.
    In Denmark, both last year and this year (1876 and 1877 - Author's remark), a couple of Copenhagen Firms applied for and obtained permission to use the punching machine. The holes punched show the initials of the firms, which can easily be seen, and make the postage stamps recognisable from other postage stamps."

II. Det meddeles herved Posthusene til fornøden Underretning, at der er meddelt Mejeriernes og Landbrugets Ulykkesforsikring, Reventlovsgade 14, Kjøbenhavn B, Tilladelse til indtil videre til Frigørelse af sammes Postforsendelser - herunder svarbreve, der tilstilles Ulykkesforsikringen fra andre Byer, og Postanvisninger, der for deres Regning fra andre Byer tilstilles dens Bankforbindelser i Kjøbenhavn - at anvende Postfrimærker, perforerede med Mærket "L^MU".

That was the "Dairy and Agricultural Insurance Company" who received permission to use a perforated mark in their stamps. The permission had GPD No. 5136 from March 1915.

From the files at our Postal Museum we can see that 199 Danish firms, in the period from 1876 to 4 December 1913, asked for permission to use perforated stamps, but of these 199 firms, 36 are recorded as having used their perforated stamps before they actually received permission. In the same period, 102 other firms are recorded using "punched stamps" without any permission.

PERFINs Became Decontrolled from 1 August 1917
Not much discussion about perforated postage stamps can be found in the papers from that time, but a change in the previously noted Postal Regulation, Section 3, Subsection d, was made 25 July 1917 (9), valid from 1 August 1917 (Annex to OM No 68/1917), stated: "It is allowed to use postage stamp with a perforated mark when this perforation is made in a way so the stamps can be recognized as being genuine and unused".
    In the period 4 December 1913 to 1 August 1917 we find that only 25 firms did ask permission to perforate their stamps with initials and collectors also have recorded that 35 firms, probably without permission from the GPO, did use perforated stamps in this period. Whoever decided whether a perforation mark did or did not fulfil the regulation from 25 July 1917 was never given, and probably there was never any doubt of the validity of the Danish postage stamps perforated with special marks.

Underprinted Danish Stamps
As you see, nothing was mentioned about "Overprinted and Underprinted" stamps in the Danish postal law. Nevertheless we do have a few underprinted stamps in Denmark, probably because some firms found it expensive or of less importance to buy the perforating machines. One of these firms was "Paul Bergsøe & Søn" in Copenhagen. The stamp shown to the left was issued in 1933. Later, in 1955, this firm bought a PERFIN machine (punching a "B") which was in use until April 1963.

Author's Remark
The scarcity of some perforated stamps is listed in various catalogues. Collectors should bear in mind, though, that all these perforating machines were manufactured and sold in private. This means that it IS possible for private individuals to find and own perforating machines quite legally. I have bought the illustrated Danish perforating machine at a fleamarket here in Denmark. The initials are "H&I" - Harts & Jöns in Copenhagen (In old days the Danish letter "I" very often was used as a "J" in abbreviations). Harts & Jöns was permitted to use perforated stamps in December 1908 (Danish GPO Letter No 16450, December 1908).

1. Tidsskrift for Postvæsen. Vol. 7, August 1877.
2. Files at The Danish Postal and Telegraph Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark.
3. Katalog over Danske Firmaperforeringer. By "Dansk Perfinsamlerklub". Odense 2001. ISBN 87-988347-0-3.
4. Catalogue of 9th Thomas Høiland Auctions A/S, 17-18 November 1994, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp 47-48.
5. The "C.F. & Co." Perforation. By Jan Krolak. PERFIN POSTEN (Newsletter from the Danish Perfin Society). No 34-35, September-December 1995. pp 1 and 14-18.
6. Danish Postal Laws No 283 from 4 December 1913, Section 31, Subsection d.
7. "Perfins og de postale kilder" by Niels Klottrup. Posthistorisk Tidsskrift, no 3/1982, pp 19-23. ISSN 0105-0079.
8. "Official Announcements from The Danish GPO" ("OM") No 46/12 May 1915, p 148.
9. Postal Regulation on 25 July 1917, Section 31, Subsection d. "Official Announcements from The Danish GPO" ("OM") No 52/31 July 1917, p 173.