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Papal 80th Birthday Stamps

VPS Website Team

80th birthday of Pope John XXIII (1961):
Coat of Arms of the Roncalli Family (Scott 317)
Church at Sotto il Monte (Scott 318)
Santa Maria in Monte Santo, Rome (Scott 319)
Church of Santo Carlo al Corso, Rome (Scott 320)
Alter, St. Peter's, Rome (Scott 321)
Pope John XXIII (Scott 322)

In yesterday's Daily Email, we commemorated the birthday of Pope Francis, and took a look at his 80th birthday stamp that was issued by Vatican City in 2016. This provides an opportunity to look at the first set of papal birthday stamps issued by Vatican City in 1961, and the subsequent release of stamps for papal landmark birthdays over the last sixty-plus years.

The following information was first published in Vatican Notes in 1961, in an article entitled "Vatican City Philatelic News". The original article can be accessed by clicking on the link in the References:

"[In 1961, the] 80th birthday of Pope John XXIII was commemorated by the issuance, on November 25 of the set of six stamps shown above.

The Roncalli family coat of arms is shown on the 10L stamp and a likeness of the Pope on the 115L stamp. The other values show the scenes of Pope John’s baptism (25L); his ordination (30L); his episcopal consecration (40L) and his coronation in St. Peter’s Basilica (70L).

The stamps bearing the likeness of Pope John and of his family coat of arms were designed by Piero Grassellini, and the remaining stamps of the set were designed by Edmondo Pizzi."

The elaborate set of stamps for the 80th birthday of Pope John XXIII, issued over 60 years ago, can now be viewed in the context of future Vatican City stamp releases. This was the first time that a set of stamps had been issued to celebrate the birthday of a pope, a practice that would become commonplace with future popes. The 80th birthdays of Pope Paul VI (Scott 630-631), Pope John Paul II (Scott 1153-1155), Pope Benedict XVI (Scott 1347-1349) and Pope Francis (Scott 1636) were each commemorated. In addition, the 90th birthday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was also honored (Scott 1650).