Glossary Term
An imperforate stamp has no perforations and must be cut apart with scissors; imperforates were normal for the earliest issues and are errors when a normally perforated stamp is found without perforations.
Also known as: imperf, imperforate between, imperf error
An imperforate stamp — often shortened to imperf — has no perforations around it. Instead of being torn from the sheet along lines of holes, it must be cut free with scissors. Imperforate stamps fall into two quite different categories: issues that were intended to be imperforate, and errors where perforations are missing by mistake.
The earliest stamps were all imperforate. The Penny Black (1840) and its successors were cut apart by postal clerks and customers. Perforating machines were introduced in the 1850s, with Britain adopting perforation for general issues in 1854. Many countries issued imperforate stamps for years afterwards, and some modern souvenir sheets and special issues are deliberately imperforate.
For these stamps, value depends heavily on margins. A “four-margin” copy with clear space around the entire design is highly prized; copies cut into the design are worth far less.
When a stamp that should be perforated is found without perforations, it is an error. Types include:
The main danger is a perforated stamp with wide margins that has had its perforations trimmed away to imitate an imperforate. Signs of trimming include narrow margins, uneven edges and traces of perforation holes. Pairs are safer than singles because the gap between two stamps must show no perforations at all. Expert certification is essential for expensive imperforate errors.
Imperforate proofs, and printer’s waste that escaped destruction, can look like imperforate errors. Specialist catalogues distinguish issued imperforates from these non-issued items.
The machinery to perforate stamp sheets did not yet exist. The Penny Black of 1840 and other early issues were cut from the sheet with scissors. Britain introduced perforated stamps generally in 1854.
A genuine imperforate should have margins wide enough to show no trace of perforation holes. Buying pairs or blocks helps, because trimmed perforated stamps cannot produce imperforate margins between stamps. Valuable imperf errors should be certified.
It describes a pair or block where the perforations are missing between two stamps but present on the outer edges — a scarce type of perforation error.
Also: stamp error, EFO, errors freaks and oddities, major error
A stamp error is a major, unintended mistake in production — such as an inverted centre, a missing colour, missing perforations or the wrong paper — that sets a stamp apart from the normal issue.
Also: selvage, selvedge, sheet margin, marginal
A margin is either the unprinted border around a stamp's design, or the selvage — the blank paper at the edge of a sheet or pane, which may carry printing information.
Also: perfs, perf
Perforation is the series of small holes punched between stamps to allow easy separation.