Home
 90th Anniversary of the Lateran Pacts Embroidered Stamp (2019) On February 11, 2019, the Vatican Post Office issued three items to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Lateran Pacts. The issue included a single self-adhesive stamp, issued jointly with Italy (Scott 1710), a mini-sheet (Scott 1709) containing two stamps each of Pope Pius XI and Pope Francis (with a map of the Vatican shown in the selvage), and a third, rather glamorous item, the first Vatican embroidered stamp. Clicking on the UFN article link in the references provides a review of the items in the 90th anniversary release. The stamp is composed of polyester yarn and metal and has a high face value of 8.40 euros. The stamp was issued in a red satin folder containing both the stamp and a decorative first-day cover. The cost of the folder, including the stamp and cover, is 28 euros. Expensive and beautiful! However, here comes the rub. The embroidered stamp was not made available for sale individually. It could only be purchased as part of the commemorative folder offering. As a result, the UFN ran afoul of the regulations followed by the folks at the Scott catalog, who chose not to assign the stamp a catalog number. VPS Webmaster Marvin Lanahan received the following explanation from Martin J. Frankevicz, the New Issues Editor for Amos Media (the publisher of the Scott Catalogues): The embroidered item was footnoted as it violated our catalog listing policy by offering an 8.40 euro face-value stamp only in a package that contained an unused stamp and one on a first-day cover for 28 euros. The way the package was sold forced collectors to buy a first-day cover, which, of course, is a stamp that cannot be used by the purchaser for postage. Thus, if the collector really did not want the FDC, 28 euros had to be spent for the valid stamp that the collector desired. That is an excessive amount above the face value and made the item in violation of clause 6 of our catalog listing policy. If the unused stamp were available separately, it may have been listable depending on what they might have charged for it, but it was not made available in anything but the package.If you refer to issues of the Scott Catalogue from the year 2020 (the first year where stamps from 2019 are listed) and beyond, you will find the footnote for the embroidered stamp, with an explanation and no image. As of 2024, a check of the CFN website still showed some of the philatelic items for the 90th anniversary of the Lateran Pacts. The stamp and minisheet were still available for purchase, but it appears the commemorative folder is no longer available. Too bad, because the original 28-euro price (or about $31) was a bargain compared to asking prices on eBay, where offerings for the complete folder (with stamp and FDC) sold for as much as $72, and listings for the single stamp up to $50! In today's Page 2 article, you can find an article reviewing Vatican City's second embroidered stamp. REFERENCES:   90th Anniversary of the Lateran Pacts Scott 1709-1710 (2019) |
