Postage Stamps of Italy

by Tony Clayton

The Republic of Italy

1954 Pinocchio <<-- : -->> 1958 Europa Issue
Main Index
Republic Index

1957 Road Safety Issue

Road Safety Sassone 815

The Italian Road Safety issue of 1957 comes in two main types. The black of the outline of the traffic lights is created by the simultaneous printing of the red and green.

In the first printing the red went up to the edge of the design, but any misalignment would produce a red edge to the lights. This type is relatively scarce, less than 1 in 10 of the total issue.

In subsequent printings the red was reduced in size so that the black areas of the traffic lights appear, on close examination, to have green outlines.

The design is in error as the red light should be at the top, even in Italy!

The left hand side shows the modified printing (Sassone 815), the right hand side the original (Sassone 815/I)

1954 Pinocchio <<-- : -->> 1958 Europa Issue
Main Index
Republic Index