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Fifth Centenary of the Discovery 
and Evangelization of America 
500 L: Christopher Columbus 
600 L: Saint Peter Claver 
850 L: La Virgen de los Reyes Catolicos 
1000 L: Bishop Bartolome de las Casas 
2000 L: Father Junipero Serra 
Scott 898-902 (1992)</center>
 		 			 			 			 			 			 			 			 			 			 			 
On March 24, 1992, Vatican City issued a series of five stamps and a souvenir sheet commemorating the fifth centenary of the discovery and evangelization of America.
 
The stamps are vertical in format, measuring 28 x 41.4 mm, and have a perforation of 11 3/4. They were printed on white chalky paper in multicolor rotogravure and were issued in sheets of 20. At the top of each stamp is the inscription V CENTENARIO DELLA SCOPERTA ED EVANGELIZZAZIONE DELL' AMERICA 1492-1992. At the bottom are the words POSTE VATICANE and the denomination.
 
The denominations and designs are as follows: 
500 lire - Christopher Columbus, from a painting in the Naval Museum, Madrid, Spain; 
600 lire - St. Peter Claver, a detail from a fresco at the Major College of San Nartolome, Bogota. Columbia; 
850 lire - La Virgen de los Reyes Catolicos (The Virgin of the Catholic Kings), from a painting in the Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain; 
1,000 lire - Bishop Bartolome de las Casas, from a painting in the Biblioteca Colombina, Seville, Spain; 
2,000 lire - Blessed Junipero Serra, from a painting in the Convent Santa Cruz de Queretaro, Mexico.
 
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The souvenir sheet, also printed on white chalky paper in multicolor rotogravure, measures 138 x 95 mm. It contains two stamps which measure 41.1 x 25.7 mm and have a perforation of 11 3/4. The stamps include the words POSTE VATICANE, the denominations (1500 and 2500 lire) and the dates 1492-1992. The souvenir sheet reproduces a 1542 nautical chart from the atlas of Battista Agnese, which is owned by the Vatican Apostolic Library. Details of this nautical chart are visible in the backgrounds of the other five stamps. At the bottom center of the sheet is a portrait of Christopher Columbus from a painting in the Museum of La Coruna, Spain. Along the upper edge of the sheet is the inscription V CENTENARIO DELLA SCOPERTA ED EVANGELIZZAZIONE DELLA' AMERICA, and along the lower edge, the dates 1492-1992. 
 
Helio Courvoisier S.A. of Switzerland printed 450,000 complete series and 450,000 souvenir sheets.
 
This issue commemorates not only the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus but also early Catholic missionary work in America, as represented by the individuals depicted on these stamps. St. Peter Claver (1580-1654) was a Jesuit missionary who worked among black slaves in Columbia. Bartolome de las Casas (1474-1566), a Dominican, denounced slavery and obtained the passage of laws which protected native Americans from abuse at the hands of the Spaniards. He was bishop of Chiapas in southern Mexico from 1544 to 1547. Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784) founded many Franciscan missions in what is now California.
 
This article by Thomas I. Crimando originally appeared in Vatican Notes in 1992 (Volume 40, Number 6, pages 1 and 4). It has been gently edited to include color images of the stamps of the issue. The original article can be accessed by clicking on the link <a href= 'https://www.vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay2.php?p=242-01'>here.</a>

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