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Nine months is a long time! But at last, we are seeing the first signs of the Vatican Post Office’s return. I’m truly excited that we seem to be heading toward a July date for the reopening of Vatican CFN sales. That gives me a little time to piece together everything I was working on when CFN sales were halted in November 2024. Back in the fall of 2023, it was discovered that first-day postmarks were available on covers from the Vatican Post Office. However, during my May 2024 visit and conversation with Vatican postal officials, I learned that these are referred to as "special" postmarks rather than "first-day" postmarks, as covers are often canceled long after the first day of issue. In that same conversation, I also learned that there is a clear separation between the Vatican Post Office and the CFN sales office. I suspect that in the coming months, we will see even more distinctions between these two groups. By the fall of 2024, just before CFN sales were suspended, I had nearly perfected the process of obtaining special postmark covers for every new stamp issue and had even begun encouraging fellow VPS members to order special covers from the CFN sales office. Then, everything shut down. Since November 2024, we have been unable to order or obtain any postal items from Vatican City. Now that the Vatican Post Office website has restarted and we anticipate CFN sales resuming in July 2025, I’m trying to determine my top priorities for the restart. Ordering nine months’ worth of Vatican stamps is certainly my first objective. Then, there are nine months' worth of special folders to catch up on, as well as the special covers issued for the stamps during that period. Additionally, there are special covers issued independently of stamp releases that need to be ordered. Not to mention the Christmas and Easter stamps, covers related to Pope Francis’ passing, the Conclave, and Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration—my list is going to be a long one! Meanwhile, over the past nine months, the programming for producing stamp album pages has advanced significantly. So, once I begin ordering stamps from CFN and they start arriving, I expect to be busy for quite a while—probably throughout the winter months of 2025. So, fellow collectors, do you remember all the things you’ll need to do to get your stamp collections back in order after the CFN sales shutdown? Are you ready to tackle the new procedures required by the revamped Vatican Post Office/CFN website? It’s going to be interesting--and exciting! |
