Vatican City commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1929 Lateran Treaties by issuing two horizontal stamps of identical design on February 12, 1954. The set included a brown lake, buff, and a pale blue 25-lire stamp and a deep blue, grey, and yellow brown 60-lire value.
The stamp's vignette features an image of Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) and an overhead view of Vatican City State. The top of the stamp includes the inscription "XXV Anniversario Dei Patti Lateranensi" (Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Lateran Pacts). Post Vaticanne and the stamp's value indicia appear at the bottom of the stamp. Francesco Pacelli, brother of Pope Pius XII, negotiated the treaties.
The 1929 treaties resolved issues that arose after Italian Unification movements of the mid-nineteenth century, the creation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and its occupation of Rome in 1870. The treaties established Vatican City State, a sovereign entity. It is the world's smallest political entity, 108.7 acres in size. It also includes Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence, and other extraterritorial properties such as the basilicas of St. John Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiore, and St. Paul Outside the Walls. A financial convention compensated the Holy See for loss of the Papal States, and a Concordat outlined Vatican City's ecclesiastical relationships with the Italian state. The governmental functions established by the treaties included maintenance of a post office and issuance of stamps and coins.
The stamp was designed by E. Pizzi and printed using the photogravure process by the Italian State Printers, Rome. It is perforated 13 x 13, measures 4 cm x 3 cm, and contains the Crossed Keys of St. Peter watermark. Sales ended on June 30, 1955.
References:
"Vatikanstaat," in Michel Europa Katalog, band 3, Südeuropa, Unterschleißheim, Germany: Schwanberger Verlag GMBH, 2008.
"Vatican City," in Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue, part 8, Italy and Switzerland, 7th edition, Hampshire, England: Ringwood, 2010.
"Vatican City State," in The Statesman's Yearbook, 131st edition, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006, pp. 1588-1590.
"Vatican City State and Government," http://www.vaticanstate.va/EN/homepage.htm, accessed June 28, 2010.
