The Story of the First
Vatican Embroidered Cloth Stamp
2
MJL
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 Vatican’s first embroidered stamp:
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. Click on the click here link at the bottom of this article to access a detailed description of the commemorative folder and its contents. 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 to not to assign the embroidered 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 didn’t 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 wasn't made available in anything but the package.
If you refer to issues of the Scott Catalogue from the year 2020 on (the first year where stamps from 2019 are listed), you will find the footnote for the embroidered stamp, with an explanation and no image.
By the way, the folder described is still available for purchase from CFN (at least as of early 2023) for the 28-euro price (or about $31). A search on eBay shows the complete folder (with stamp and FDC) selling for as much as $72, and the single stamp selling for up to $50! Better to buy direct, if it is still available!
In the next day or two, we will present a Daily E-Mail featuring another Vatican issue involving embroidered stamps.
REFERENCES:
UFN, February 11, 2019 90th Anniversary of the Lateran Pacts and the Foundation of the Vatican City State
Marvin Lanahan - mlanahan404@comcast.net
Updated by Lou Giorgetti
01/14
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