90th anniversary of the foundation of the Vatican City State

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The History of Vatican City and Its Postage Stamps: Origins, Traditions and Philatelic Highlights

PEREX: Although the papacy has existed for nearly two thousand years, Vatican City as a modern sovereign state was established only in 1929. Since then, it has issued its own postage stamps, which have become highly valued by collectors thanks to their artistic quality, low print runs and strong spiritual symbolism.

Despite the fact that the papacy has existed for almost two millennia, the history of Vatican City as an independent sovereign state is relatively short. In fact, Czechoslovakia was founded ten years earlier. The Vatican City State (Stato della Città del Vaticano) was established with the signing of the Lateran Treaty on 11 February 1929. The treaty was signed between the Holy See (represented by Pope Pius XI) and the Kingdom of Italy (represented by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini). It defined the relationship between the Vatican and Italy and included financial compensation and state bonds to make up for the loss of the former Papal States. The treaty also established the borders of the new city‑state and its extraterritorial properties.

Like every sovereign state, the newly formed Vatican City began issuing its own postage stamps. The first series, known as Conciliazione, featuring the portrait of Pope Pius XI, was released on 1 August 1929. Despite its relatively short history, Vatican philately has become extremely popular among collectors, and stamp issuance represents an important source of revenue for the city‑state. The themes depicted on Vatican stamps are closely tied to Christianity, its history and, naturally, the pope as both head of state and leader of the Catholic Church.

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Vatican stamp production also has several unique characteristics. Each year must include stamps celebrating Christmas (Natale) and Easter (Pasqua). Upon the death or abdication of a pope, a special Sede Vacante series is issued, and when a new pope is elected, a series featuring his portrait follows. Special attention is also given to papal travels and the promotion of fine arts.

Why collect Vatican stamps? In addition to their artistic and technical quality, they are issued in relatively low quantities — some souvenir sheets are printed in only a few tens of thousands. Vatican City also experienced a short period of “mass printing” in the 1960s and 1970s, but this ended early in the pontificate of John Paul II. Interestingly, the Vatican postal service is considered one of the most reliable in the world.

Fig. 1: Commemorative stamp issued for the 90th anniversary of the founding of Vatican City.

To mark the 90th anniversary of the Vatican City State, a special commemorative stamp was issued. As is often the case in Vatican philately, this stamp was quite surprising — instead of traditional paper, a textile material was used for its production (see Fig. 1 and 2).