The Philatelic Database – Archive of Stamp Collecting Articles

This is a contemporary report of the popular Dante Centenary stamps, issued by Italy in 1921, originally published in Stamp Collectors’ Fortnightly, October 1, 1921.

Published by kind permission of the author.

Before telling the story behind the fascinating cover illustrated, a description is necessary…

This article by Hiram Motherwell, was originally published in the American publication, “Harper’s Monthly Magazine” in July, 1928. It provides fascinating source material for both scholars and postal historians alike at a tumultuous period in Italian history…

The Duchy of Modena introduced adhesive stamps in June 1852 (pictured above).

This 20 lire dull purple, greenish grey and black stamp celebrated the centenary of the birth of Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was issued Mar 14, 1979.

These stamps celebrated Italo-German Friendship and were designed by C. Mezzana and A. Pesci and featured the profiles of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

San Marino stamp issues from the 1950s and 60s had appealing designs: they depicted exciting topics like hunting, sports, dogs, famous detectives and mountaineering!

Adhesive stamps were not introduced in Romagna until September 1859, when a series from ½ to 20 bajocchi were issued. The stamps were typographed by Volpi and del Sassi of Bologna from electroypes by Amoretti Brothers. These stamps were suppressed in February 1860 when the issues of Sardinia were introduced. Consequently, used examples comparatively rare.

A series of six stamps celebrating the assumption of power by the Fascists. The fascist emblem, the ancient Roman fasces or axe and rods, depicted on the highest denomination stamp (5 lire), was featured on many Italian stamps from 1923-1944.

The first stamps of the united kingdom of Italy consisted of the series of Sardinia with perforations added.