Early Office Museum

Antique Check Canceling Machines

A 1915 B. F. Cummins Co. ad stated that "Perforating no longer means 'Check Protecting.' It means a new and better way to Date, Number, Mark--10 or more at once. Think of it in connection with the following: Dating incoming mail, numbering orders, marking orders or invoices 'Entered' with date. Cancelling and receipting checks, notes, statements, bills. Everything which requires a permanent, unchangeable marking."

Patent or Advertising Image	Name, Years of Patents and Observed Ads, Manufacturer	Image
Large Machines for Canceling Stacks of Checks
Image from 1866 patent	Canceling Machine for Checks Patented 1866 ~ Advertised 1866 E. B. Clayton's Sons New York, NY U.S. Patent No. 56,498 The 1866 advertisement says that before this machine was available, the cancellation of checks was "very imperfectly done by the clumsy canceling hammer, producing a very defective accomplishment of the purpose, and a jarring and noise so unpleasant in a Banking Room, as well as the frequent tearing and injury to the documents. ... One important improvement is the facility with which the knives perforate any number of documents at one time ... The form of the puncture is of the usual style, designated as the square cross." The 1866 price was $30.	.
	Perforating Machine Advertised 1883 Edwin B. Stimpson New York, NY "This machine is designed for cancelling checks, bonds, tickets, etc."	.
.	Cummins Canceling Perforator (a.k.a. Cancelling Machine, Perforating Machine, Dating Canceler ) Patented 1889-92 ~ Advertised c. 1899-1930 B. F. Cummins Co., Chicago, IL Cummins Perforator Co., Chicago, IL, and New York, NY The company produced many models. Typically, perforates checks with the word PAID and the date (MM:DD:YY). 1906 ad for the Cummins No. 12 Dating Canceler, which was similar if not identical to the machine directly below, stated: "Cancels and dates ten checks of average thickness each stroke." The No. 12, which weighed 26 lb., was $67.50 in 1928. In 1915, a B. F. Cummins ad claimed the company had been specialists in perforating machines for 28 years, that is, since 1887. Cummins No. 12 Perforating Machine Security Library Perforator, Cancelling Machine No. 15, advertised c. 1899-1928. 18 lb. $25 in 1928.	No. 2 No. 3 Cancellor No. 16 No. 35 Check Perforator No. 37
	Abbott Canceling Machine Introduced 1893 ~ Advertised 1893 Abbott Machine Co. Chicago, IL "Weight 100 lbs. It perforates 25 to 30 thicknesses of paper at one time."	.
	Century Check Canceller 1894 Century Cancelling Machine Co. Philadelphia, PA	.
.	BBT Check Canceller This perforates checks with small holes that spell the word "PAID"
.	American Perforator Top machine: Advertised 1914 Bottom machine: Patented 1915 American Perforator Co. Chicago, IL Top machine perforates checks with the word PAID and the date. Top photograph courtesy of Larry Wilhelm The company produced many models.
Small Devices for Canceling Individual Checks
.	In the late 1860s, Wm. Staehlen, New York, NY, advertised a "brass slide check cancellor." but the ad did not include an illustration.	.
	Victor Paper Fastener and Check Canceller Patented 1879-82 ~ Advertised 1883-84 A. A. Weeks New York, NY Device is a paper fastener at one end and a check canceller at the other.
	Check Canceling File Advertised 1881-1930 US	.

Examples of Perforated Check Cancellations
1879	PAID spelled out in perforations inside a perforated circle, seen on this 1879 check.
1895	PAID spelled out in perforations, seen on checks dated from 1895 onward.
1909	PAID plus the date spelled out in perforations, seen on checks dated from 1905 onward.

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