Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State

The Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State (Italian: Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico), managed by Poste Vaticane, is responsible for issuing Vatican postal stamps and Vatican coins.

The stamp vending machine of the Vatican Postal Service

The office was created on 11 February 1929 in the nations founding, and issued the first of the nations postal stamps on 1 August of the same year.[1] While Vatican stamps may only be used within the Vatican City State and the quantity of euro coins is limited by treaty with Italy (the total value of all coins minted in 2002 was restricted to €310,400),[2] Vatican coins and stamps serve as an important sign of Vatican sovereignty, and their scarcity and design makes them popular with collectors. Collectors especially appreciate small-circulation annual sets of coins, as well as officially unreleased coins from 1938.

Public interest in Vatican currency and stamps was considered sufficient to justify a Philatelic and Numismatic Museum (Il Museo Filatelico e Numismatico) which has been opened as part of the Vatican Museums in 2007.[3] Two special stamps about the museum were issued at the museum opening.

Euro coins issued by the Vatican are minted by Italy's Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (Italian State Mint).[4]

In 2017, the Vatican honored the 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation by issuing stamps featuring Martin Luther.[5][6]

See also

References
  1. "The Early Definitives". Vatican Philatelic Society. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  2. "Euro Vaticano". Sala Stampa della Santa Sede. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  3. The new Museum Archived 2007-08-25 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Article 5". Monetary Agreement between the European Union and the Vatican City State. Vatican City State. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  5. "Vatican releases postage stamps on Reformation, St. Francis of Sales - Vatican News". 23 November 2017.
  6. "Vatican issues stamp featuring Martin Luther for Reformation anniversary". 26 November 2017.
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