How to Use a Stamp Perforation Gauge

Postage stamps are printed in sheets known by philatelists as "blocks." Early stamps had to be cut from a block with a pair of scissors or torn out by hand, but by the mid-1850's, a machine had been developed to draw lines of perforations between each stamp, making the stamps much easier to separate. The spacing of these perforations along the edges of the stamp varied from machine to machine. Philatelists take an interest in these spacings because they can be used to distinguish between different issues of otherwise seemingly identical stamps. Philatelists measure the spacings using a device called a perforation gauge, which counts the number of holes within two centimeters -- this usually corresponds to between seven and 18 perforations. In stamp catalogs, you will find this measurement listed as "perf 7," for example.

Things You'll Need

• Perforation gauge

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Know the kind of gauge you are using. There are two types. The first is a piece of card or plastic with perforation outlines printed on it. The second looks like a ruler of transparent plastic with lines running from end to end.

   • 2

     Place a stamp on top your card-like gauge and move the stamp up the gauge until you find a silhouette outline on the gauge that matches the perforation pattern along the edge of the stamp. Read the perforation number of the stamp from the gauge.

   • 3

     Place your ruler-type gauge on top of the stamp and move the ruler down until the slanting lines of the ruler perfectly intersect the teeth between the perforations. Look across to the printed numbers on the gauge and read the perforation number of the stamp.