Specimen Stamps
(Published: May, 2013, Volume 13, Number 2, Issue #34) (Table Of Contents)(Author: Larry Fillion)
I received a request for information on the Ghana stamps below for why they were hole punched. The stamps are perfins.
A perfin is a stamp that has had initials or a name perforated across it to discourage theft. The name is a contraction
of perforated initials or perforated insignia. They are also sometimes called SPIFS (Stamps Perforated with Initials of Firms and Societies).
The following definition of a Specimen stamp is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specimen_stamp: A specimen stamp is a postage stamp or postal stationery indicium sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries. The usual method of invalidating the stamps is either overprinting in ink or perforating the word Specimen across the stamp and where English is not the common language, the words Muestra (Spanish), Monster (Dutch), Muster (German) have been used instead.
The Ghana Specimen stamps below were perfinned with the word Specimen to denote their status.
Cyprus overprinted the stamps with the word "Specimen".
China used 2 black lines on top of the denomination instead of the word "Specimen"
W.H.O. Office - New York Meter Cancellation - Slogan 1 - Pitney Bowes Specimen
The following definition of a Specimen stamp is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specimen_stamp: A specimen stamp is a postage stamp or postal stationery indicium sent to postmasters and postal administrations so that they are able to identify valid stamps and to avoid forgeries. The usual method of invalidating the stamps is either overprinting in ink or perforating the word Specimen across the stamp and where English is not the common language, the words Muestra (Spanish), Monster (Dutch), Muster (German) have been used instead.
The Ghana Specimen stamps below were perfinned with the word Specimen to denote their status.
Cyprus overprinted the stamps with the word "Specimen".
| Cyprus Scott 204 Specimen 
|
Cyprus Scott 205 Specimen 
|
China used 2 black lines on top of the denomination instead of the word "Specimen"
| China Scott 1342 Specimen 
|
China Scott 1343 Specimen 
|
W.H.O. Office - New York Meter Cancellation - Slogan 1 - Pitney Bowes Specimen
Pitney Bowes Specimen - Front
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Pitney Bowes Specimen - Back
|