Vatican City Stamp Collection 1929 set plus 1959 - 1980's CV Circa £1000 • £57.50 (2024)

FAQs

Are Vatican City stamps worth anything? ›

The most valuable Vatican stamp is Effigy of Pope Pius XI - 1934 Overprint. Again, the stamp dates back to 1929, and in 1934 there was a trial overprint, changing the value from 1.25 ₤ to 1.30 ₤.

Inside the Vatican Museums there is a Post Office of the Poste Vaticane and a Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office. The Philatelic Office instead sells collectors' stamps and coins issued and coined by Vatican City State.

All unused postage stamps issued after 1930 are essentially worth face value. That is, they are worth the denomination displayed on the stamp. If they are used, they have no retail or resale value.

The Vatican post office has operated its own postal service and issued its own postage stamps since 1929.

Valued by some as high as €2 billion, Nero's bathtub is one of the most precious works in the Vatican Museums. Stretching a whopping 25ft in diameter, it's made of a deep red/purple porphyry marble. This stone was quarried from a single source in Egypt and no other deposits of it have ever been found.

The British Guiana 1c Magenta is the holy grail of stamp collecting. Issued in 1856 in British Guiana (now Guyana), this stamp holds the title of the world's rarest stamp. With only one known copy in existence, it has gained legendary status among collectors for its extreme scarcity and astronomical value.

Holy See stamps, including collectors' editions, can be purchased inside the Vatican Museums too, and regular Vatican stamps are also on sale at the giftshop in the Basilica of St John Lateran, which has Vatican extraterritorial status.

The 1-cent magenta stamp of British Guiana was issued in 1856. The stamp depicted here is the only universally recognized example of this stamp. Rarity is always relative, but there are not many stamps of which only one example is believed to exist. One such is the British Guiana 1-cent magenta stamp of 1856.

Stamps issued after 1930 have their prices directly on them. Although a stamp printed in the 30s may seem old, they're still worth face value. This means despite its age if the stamp says 5 cents on it then it's still worth 5 cents today. Stamps issued before 1930 are the stamps you should be looking to sell.

Are 50 year old stamps worth anything? ›

Nearly all unused U.S. stamps issued after 1930 are worth face value. While 1930 is nearly 100 years ago, stamps issued after this date are considered to be modern in the stamp collecting and stamp dealing community.

For many novices, the Philatelic Traders Society (PTS) is the first port of call to make an initial enquiry. As a trade society for stamp dealers, the PTS does not value stamps itself but its members may be able to help, often for a fee at their discretion.

The Institute for the Works of Religion (Italian: Istituto per le Opere di Religione; Latin: Institutum pro Operibus Religionis; abbreviated IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial institution that is situated inside Vatican City and run by a Board of Superintendence, which reports to a Commission of ...

The Holy See is the organization that owns the Vatican, i.e. the smallest independent city-state in the world. They print their own passports, have their own media, and even maintain their own mail service, all for a population numbering no more than 1,000 people.

Stamps of Italy may not be used on Vatican mail, nor vice versa. Nearly all modern Vatican mail is carried by air, and Poste Vaticane negotiates its own contracts with the airlines.

The most expensive stamp on record is the British Guiana 1 Cent Magenta. Only one is known to exist. It was ordered to be printed by the postmaster general of British Guiana in 1856 after a shipment from London was delayed. Its first sale was recorded in 1874 for six shillings ($1.44).

That's roughly $25 billion in U.S. dollars, adjusted for inflation.

Note that you cannot use Italian stamps at the Vatican and vice versa – they're different countries!