Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Medium:
paper; ink (multicolored)
Type:
Postage Stamps
Place:
VATICAN CITY (independent city state)
Date:
September 1, 1942
Description:
Vatican City issued a series of three stamps on September 1, 1942, that recognized the Prisoner of War Fund established by Pope Pius XII (1939-1958). The 25-centessimi value covered postal charges within Italy for the initial twenty-gram letter rate. The other values are of identical design and include the 80-centessimi and 1.25-lire values.
The stamp's design includes a lightly-drawn image of the face of Jesus. Circles surround the image, which faces a crowd of approximately ten men, women, and children. Some men appear in military uniform. A Latin phrase - "Flagrante Bello Misereor Svper Tvrbam" ("I have Compassion on the Multitudes") -- appears at the top of the stamp. At the center bottom appears POST VATICANE, the year (MCMXLII), and the stamp's value (printed in two boxes to the left and right).
The stamps recognize assistance by Pope Pius XII and Vatican City offices to refugees and prisoners of war both during and after the end of hostilities in 1945. The pope established the Vatican Information Bureau in September 1939 through the secretariat of state. It transmitted twenty million messages regarding the status of prisoners, civilian refugees, and persecuted minorities. In addition to written correspondence, Vatican Radio broadcast the pope's appeals for peace and information on persons affected and displaced by war. The Bureau ended its work in October 1947.
Artist Guiseppe Rondini designed the stamps. The Italian Government Printing Works, Rome, printed the stamps by photogravure on white paper. The 25-centessimi value is a monochrome dark blue green in color, the 80-centessimi stamp is chestnut brown, and the 1.25-lire value is deep blue. The stamp measures 3 cm. x 4 cm. in size, has 14 x 14 perforations, and contains no watermark. Vatican City printed 1,100,000 sets of the stamps, which were withdrawn from sale on February 28, 1947.
The Vatican reissued the series in 1944 and 1945. In 1945, the postal values and the stamps' colors changed slightly, and the 1945 issue contains a winged wheel watermark. MCMXLIII appears on the stamp issued in 1944, with 910,000 sets printed. MCMXLIV appears on the stamp that appeared in 1945, with 1,500,000 sets printed.
References:
"Vatikanstaat," in Michel Europa Katalog, Band 3, Südeuropa, Unterschleißheim, Germany: Schwanberger Verlag GMBH, 2008.
"Vatican City," in Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue, part 8, 7th ed. Ringwood, Hampshire, England, 2010.
"Vatican City," in Scott Standard Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 6. Sidney, OH: Scott Publishing Company, 2006.
"Pius XII," in The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Marchione, Margherita. Pope Pius XII: Architect For Peace. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2000.
Topic:
International Stamps & Mail  Search this
Object number:
2008.2009.72
See more items in:
National Postal Museum Collection
Data Source:
National Postal Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8f84ad5d1-9fb0-4eab-96a5-c7845e6f14d3
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npm_2008.2009.72