On November 24, 1992, Vatican City issued four different Christmas stamps. The illustrations replicated on the stamps were inspired by thirteenth-century mosaics in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome:
600-lire - the Annunciation
700-lire - the Nativity
1,000-lire - the Adaptation of the Magi
1,500-lire - the Presentation in the Temple
Along the top of each stamp appears the inscription NATIVITAS D.N.I. CHRISTI MCMXCII (Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1992). The Tiara and Crossed Keys, the words POSTE VATICANE, and the value appear at the bottom.
The stamps measure 36 x 36 mm and have a perforation of 1 3/4. Helio Courvoisier S.A. of Switzerland printed 450,000 complete series on white chalky paper in multicolor rotogravure. The stamps were issued in sheets of twenty.
Crimando, Thomas I. "Christmas Issue." Vatican Notes 41, no. 4 (March 1993): 4.
