Stamps of the Kingdom of Italy

by Tony Clayton

1923 Commemoratives

1922 Mazzini Issue <<-- : -->> 1924 Commemorative Issues

Main Index

Propaganda Fide Issue

On 11th June 1923 four stamps were issued to celebrate the Tercentenary of the Congregation De Propaganda Fide. They were sold in 3 post offices in Rome for just three days, and remained valid until the 30th June. Of the 200,000 sets printed, 150,000 were allocated to the 'Patronato Romano di Italica Gens'

30c carmine and orange

Two of the values show an interesting retouch. Stamp 17 in the sheet of 24 for the 20c and 30c had a defective area to the right of Jesus's halo. This was retouched using five lines instead of the normal nine or ten.

This retouch can also be found on the stamps overprinted for use in Eritrea, Italian Somalia, Cirenaica and Tripolitania.

20c normal print	20c retouch
30c normal print	30c retouch

March on Rome Issue

On 14th October 1923 six stamps were issued to celebrate the First Anniversary of the Fascist March on Rome. They remained valid until the 30th June 1924. 1,000,000 sets were printed.

10c dark green Sassone 141.

30c violet Sassone 142.

50c red Sassone 143.

1 Lire blue Sassone 144.

2 Lire brown Sassone 145.

5 Lire blue and black Sassone 146.

Black Shirt Fund Issue

On 29th October 1923 three stamps were issued to support the Fascist Black Shirt Fund. They were only sold in Rome, Bologna, Florence, Genova, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Turin, and Venezia. They remained valid until the 29th February 1924. 200,000 sets were printed in two 100,000 printings which are said to be distinguishable. The crown watermark is normally upright, but the two centesimi values can be found with it inverted.

30+30c light brown Sassone 147.

50+50c light violet Sassone 148.

1+1 Lire light grey Sassone 149.

Manzoni Issue

On 29th December 1923 six stamps were issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of the writer Alessandro Manzoni They remained valid until the 28th January 1924. 210,000 of the centesimi values were printed, but just 70,000 of the 1 Lire and 35,000 of the 5 Lire. All six denominations can be found with the crown watermark both upright and inverted.

1 Lire blue and black Sassone 155.

5 Lire dull purple and black Sassone 156.

1922 Mazzini Issue <<-- : -->> 1924 Commemorative Issues
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