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As a lifelong stamp collector, someone will occasionally give me a stamped cover. The cover above is one of those covers. It came to my collection from the father of a childhood "best friend". This man had been overseas, working the start-up of a North Atlantic oil platform, and he gave it to me when he came home after being overseas for a year. During my growing up years, this gentleman had been really nice to me and when I look at the cover it makes me think of all of those wonderful things he did for me and the kind of person he was. It's one of my favorite items in my Vatican collection. The souvenir cover (Scott 825a-f) was issued by the Vatican Post Office on December 12, 1988, along with 6 stamps (Scott 819-824) as the 1988 Christmas Issue. The design of the stamps was done by Lucca Vangelli, whose name appears in the lower right corner of each stamp. The Italian State Polygraphic Institute and Mint printed 500,000 complete sets of the stamps and 500,000 souvenir sheets. Their initials, location, and issue year are in the left bottom corner of each stamp. Each stamp is vertical in format, measuring 20 x 50.8 mm, with a 13-1/4 x 14-1/2 perforations.
In sketching out the Christmas scene, Lucca Vangelli did a masterful job of tying everything together. The angels are flying high above the clouds, holding olive branches, singing their praises. On the angel stamps is the first line from Luke's gospel: " GLORIA A DIO NEL PIÚ ALTO DEI CIELI... ". The second part appears on the second set of stamps, depicting shepherds, the nativity, and the three wise men: "...PACE IN TERRA AGLI UOMINI DI BUONA VOLNTÁ ". Together they give the full verse from Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in high heaven, peace on earth whom His favor rests." Reading the words, seeing the stamp images, one can feel the words being sung out! It is simply a marvelous presentation of the Christmas event. Looking at the cover, there is even more to be discovered. The two postmarks repeat the shepherd/nativity stories of the 821 and 823 stamps. On one, you see the shepherds with their sheep, and the other a nativity scene with the Mother Mary nurturing her Child, while Joseph is in the background, a bit exhausted by the events. With relatively few lines even these two postmarks have again captured the Christmas scene.
In the VPS cover collection, we have several first day covers for these stamps. I have been looking at the difference between the vertical positioning of the postmarks on my cover and the horizontal alignments on other covers. I am wondering about the device or devices that created these markings. On most covers, the spacing of the postmarks is always about the same and is usually horizontal. I do wonder how the UFN got the vertical spacing on my cover properly aligned. Should you have some knowledge to share about the postmark devices used, click here to contact us.
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