309:. The Bemrose machine was designed as a rouletting machine. As such, it proved impracticable for stamp separation but in 1856 was successfully converted to a perforating machine by George C. Howard of Toppan Carpenter, stamp printers for the American Government. Both the stroke and rotary processes have been refined since then, but are basically still the ones in use in the 21st century. The key decision for the perforator is the spacing of the holes; if too far apart, the stamps will not separate easily, and the stamps are likely to tear, but if too close, the stamps will tend to come apart in normal handling. In a few cases the size of the holes has been a factor. In the case of certain stamps produced by Australia for sale in rolls rather than sheets (coil stamps) a pattern can be seen on the stamp's short side of two small, ten large and two small holes.
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row to be perforated in a single operation, and this became known as "comb" perforation. Perforation trials were conducted in 1849 and 1850 under the auspices of the
British Government and stamps from these trials were first issued towards the end of 1850. The Archer machine proved the viability of the process but never entered service. Archer's patent for his perforating machine (no. 12,340 of 1848, dated May 23, 1849) was purchased for £4,000 in June 1853. New machines based on Archer's principles were constructed by David Napier and Son Ltd; these were initially used in October 1853 for revenue stamps and from January 1854 for postage stamps.
414:, meaning that the stamps themselves are cut entirely apart, held together only by the backing paper. At first the backing paper was itself solid, but in a repeat of history, is now slightly rouletted so as to facilitate tearing off blocks of stamps without having to remove them from the backing. Since the diecut goes all the way through the stamp, any shape will work, and the original self-adhesives were straight-edged. However, the tradition of perforation is so strong that more recent self-adhesives have a wavy diecut
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248:, and had to be cut from the sheet with scissors or knife. This was time-consuming and error-prone (as mangled stamps of the era attest). Once reliable separation equipment became available, nations switched rapidly. Imperforate stamps have been issued occasionally since then, either because separation equipment was temporarily unavailable (in newborn nations for instance), to makers of automatic
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For the stamp collector, perforations matter, not only as a way to distinguish different stamps (a perf 10 may be rarer and more valuable than a perf 11 of the same design), but also as part of the condition of stamps. Short or "nibbed" perfs are undesirable and reduce value, as are bent or creased
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and the Inland
Revenue. Two such machines were built. After experimentation both machines proved to be failures. From one machine a few stamps from Plates 70 and 71 have survived. This machine consisted of lancet-shaped blades working on a fly-press principle and piercing the paper with a series of
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Stamps that are perforated on one pair of opposite sides and imperforate on the other have most often been produced in coils instead of sheets, but they can sometimes come from booklet panes. Booklet panes can be associated with any combination of one, two or three imperforate sides. Sheet edges
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Archer then abandoned this approach in favour of perforation, a process which used rows of small round pins to punch out the holes. In 1848 Archer patented his perforation machine which worked on the "stroke" principle. The arrangement of the pins enabled the top and sides of each stamp across the
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uses small cuts in the paper instead of holes. It was used by a number of countries, but was rarely if ever seen on modern stamps until the die-cut serpentine roulette self-adhesive varieties appeared. Varieties, often described by philatelists in French terms, include straight cuts
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fibers on each tooth, while simulated perforations are smooth. From 2012 to 2016 the United States also sold small numbers of the stamps issued during this period in sheets without die cuts, thus creating imperforated varieties of them. Their issuance was very controversial.
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meaning that they are not separated on all sides. Although it is very common to have different gauges of perforation horizontally and vertically, in rare circumstances a stamp may have different perforations on opposite sides; in the case of
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which are uneven, either skipping a hole or by making some holes larger. In the 1990s, Great
Britain began adding large elliptical holes to the perforations on each side, as an anti-counterfeiting measure.
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are common, occurring when a hole is not completely punched out, as are off-center perfs that cut into the design of the stamp, sometimes very badly. Occasionally pairs or larger groups of stamps may be
185:"Bantam" stamps from South West Africa showing normal and rouletted perforations. Three stamps could be printed using the paper normally used for one. Produced during World War II as an economy measure.
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This pair of coil stamps clearly shows the pattern of perforation holes; also, on the left side of the pair, the stamp was torn, while on the right the perforations were cut with scissors or knife.
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436:, which has preprinted patterns of holes in a selection of common perforations, requiring one merely to line up the stamp's perforations with the closest match. Rare stamps are often
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of an individual stamp) in a 2-centimeter span. The finest gauge ever used is 18 on stamps of the Malay States in the early 1950s, and the coarsest is 2, seen on the 1891 stamps of
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391:. Because self-adhesive stamps contain a sticky layer, it is far easier to roulette the separations, than to actually punch out the holes for perforations.
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of the United
Kingdom constructed the first (rouletting) machine, the "Archer Roulette", to separate stamps. His plan, submitted to the
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Separation of imperforate stamps by scissors, knife or tearing often leads to uneven margins on the stamp as in this 1853 stamp of
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can produce any one imperforate side or two adjacent imperforate sides when the stamp comes from the corner of the sheet.
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stamps only a handful of these are known to exist. The various types of perforation errors are collectively known as
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the perforation. It can be recognized by studying the edge of the stamp closely; true perforations will have torn
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perfs. Although the collector could count the number of holes using a ruler, the usual practice is to use a
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The Stamp
Collector's Guidebook of Worldwide Watermarks and Perforations, from 1840 to date
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536:"Stamp Perforation: The Somerset House Years 1848 to 1880 (Ray Simpson and Peter Sargent)
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As is inevitable for a mechanical process like perforation, many things can go wrong.
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545:"The Bemrose Perforating Machine", The London Philatelist, February 2009 (Ray Simpson)
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is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other.
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The standard for describing perforation is the number of holes (or the "teeth" or
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in 1964, and by the 1990s these stamps came into wide use. These are inevitably
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A few types of stamps have combined rouletting and perforation, for instance
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483:– stamps perforated across the middle with letters or a pattern or monogram
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Perforated and imperforate versions of the same
Austrian stamp of 1920
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Images of different types of perforations, misperforations and errors
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In the early years, from 1840 until 1850, all stamps were issued
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Stamp
Perforations with Particular Emphasis on Canadian Stamps
638:
Kloetzel, James E.; et al., eds. (2008). "South Africa".
555:
Kloetzel, James E.; et al., eds. (2008). "Introduction".
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325:. Modern stamp perforations tend to range from 11 to 14.
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on 1 October 1847, was referred to the departments of the
732:. Ottawa: British North America Philatelic Society, 2009
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Kloetzel, James E.; et al., eds. (2008). "Finland".
680:(Sharp Photography Publications, 2021) ASIN B091MBTGJ7
256:did this in the 1900s and 1910s), as novelties for
57:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
725:. Racine, WI.: Whitman Publishing Co., 1966 256p.
301:Also in 1854 a "rotary process" was patented by
231:: cut paper to shape using a metal die—used for
667:USPS press sheets: more questions than answers
642:. Vol. 6 (165th ed.). Sidney, Ohio:
588:. Vol. 2 (165th ed.). Sidney, Ohio:
559:. Vol. 1 (165th ed.). Sidney, Ohio:
8:
406:The first self-adhesive stamp was issued by
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640:Scott 2009 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue
586:Scott 2009 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue
557:Scott 2009 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue
379:), sawtooth and the serpentine roulettes (
217:: cutting rows and columns of small holes
117:Learn how and when to remove this message
615:"Stamp separation appears in many forms"
260:(particularly when stamps are issued in
498:
678:A Sharp Eye on collecting US Classics
627:from the original on 2 February 2017.
440:in case they have been reperforated.
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751:, March 1954, Vol. XXCII, No. 7. 3p.
223:: small horizontal and vertical cuts
55:adding citations to reliable sources
613:Baadke, Michael (2 November 1998).
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208:Methods of separation include:
133:The Penny Black is imperforate.
42:needs additional citations for
387:) used by the early stamps of
363:with inked cutting bar), arc (
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476:Errors, freaks, and oddities
702:American Philatelic Society
514:American Philatelic Society
506:Williams, Louis N. (1990).
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313:Measurement and variations
173:A rouletted United States
66:"Postage stamp separation"
698:Fundamentals of Philately
509:Fundamentals of Philately
359:percée en lignes colorées
745:Centenary Of Perforation
334:syncopated perforations
250:stamp vending equipment
778:Philatelic terminology
743:Williams, L.N. and M.
696:Williams, L.N. and M.
488:References and sources
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644:Scott Publishing Co.
592:pp. 1119–1120.
590:Scott Publishing Co.
561:Scott Publishing Co.
402:Self-adhesive stamps
233:self-adhesive stamps
51:improve this article
455:imperforate between
371:), sewing-machine (
332:Variations include
286:General Post Office
383:perce en serpentin
307:Henry Howe Bemrose
297:The rotary process
282:Postmaster General
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704:, 1990) Chap. 15
653:978-0-89487-417-8
620:Linn's Stamp News
599:978-0-89487-417-8
570:978-0-89487-417-8
434:perforation gauge
153:Vertical pair of
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49:Please help
44:verification
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450:Blind perfs
246:imperforate
240:Early years
214:perforation
438:expertized
427:Collecting
416:simulating
346:Rouletting
341:Rouletting
228:diecutting
221:rouletting
203:separation
107:April 2014
77:newspapers
18:Rouletting
398:in 1942.
276:In 1847,
264:), or as
772:Category
625:Archived
470:See also
464:misperfs
691:Sources
389:Finland
177:of 1898
91:scholar
747:. In:
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481:Perfin
444:Errors
412:diecut
355:, and
323:Bhopal
289:cuts.
266:errors
155:1d red
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740:100p.
493:Notes
420:paper
319:perfs
252:(the
98:JSTOR
84:books
734:ISBN
706:ISBN
648:ISBN
594:ISBN
565:ISBN
518:ISBN
305:and
197:For
70:news
53:by
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