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- 25c Consecration of Archbishop Pacelli by Pope Benedict XV single
25c Consecration of Archbishop Pacelli by Pope Benedict XV single
Object Details
- Description
- On January 16, 1942, Vatican City issued a series of four stamps commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the consecration of Monsignor Eugenio Pacelli as archbishop of Sardes (Sardis) on April 23, 1917. The 25-centesimi stamp covered postal use within Italy. Other values in the set include 80-centesimi, 1.25- and 5-lire stamps.
- The stamp design features Pacelli (standing) and Pope Benedict XV (seated) before an altar. A Latin inscription, ANNO XXV AB INITO EPISCOPATV, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the consecration. "Poste Vaticane, MCMXLII" and the monetary value appear at the bottom of the stamp.
- Archbishop Pacelli was assigned as papal nuncio to Munich, capital of Bavaria. He conveyed Pope Benedict XV's 1917 peace proposal to the Imperial German government and served as nuncio to the Weimar Republic after World War I. He subsequently negotiated a series of concordats with the states of Prussia and Bavaria as well as other Central European governments.
- Pacelli was named cardinal-priest (1929), secretary of state (1930), and he was crowned Pope Pius XII on March 12, 1939.
- Professor Corrado Mezzana, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Arts and Design, designed the stamp. Italian Government Printing Works, Instituto Poligrafico di Stato, engraved the series and printed it by photogravure on chalky paper. Its colors are myrtle green and gray green. The stamp is vertical in format and measures 3 cm. x 4 cm. Perforations measure14 x 14. The stamp contains no watermark.
- References:
- "Vatican City," in Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue, part 8, 7th ed. Ringwood, Hants, 2010.
- "Vatican City," in Scott Standard Stamp Catalogue, vol. 6. Sidney, OH: Scott Publishing Company, 2006.
- Kelly, J. N. D. The Oxford Dictionary of Popes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- January 16, 1942
- Object number
- 2008.2009.75
- Type
- Postage Stamps
- Medium
- paper; ink(multicolored)
- Place
- VATICAN CITY (independent city state)
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Title
- Scott Catalogue Vatican City 80
- Topic
- International Stamps & Mail
- Record ID
- npm_2008.2009.75
- Usage
- Usage conditions apply
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