Postage Due
There are three types of stamps on this page. The first type are called in Italian, Segnatasse per Valglia – which literally and vaguely translates to sign of tax for valuable thing. They’re stamps to be attached to a post office money order, to indicate that the required service charge has been paid.
The basic procedure was for someone who wanted to send money to someone else (e.g., a family member, a vendor), to go to their local post office in Italy and deposit the money for whatever amount they want to send. They would then be given a money order for that amount, to assign it to whomever. A postal worker would take one of these stamps, which the sender would have to buy for the face amount, and attach it to the money order to validate it. Then the sender would mail it to the recipient – another stamp for the envelop – perhaps along with a cover letter. The envelop would be delivered to the recipient wherever they were in Italy. That person would then go to their local post office to get the cash for the postal money order.
Compared to methods that are available to us today for transfering money, the method of late 19th Century Italy seems like a protracted process. But at that time, it was quick and more secure than mailing cash in the mail or traveling across the peninsula to deliver the money in person.
Incidentally, this service start in the early 1870s. It wasn’t until 1924 that the post office decided to issue a stamp specifically for postal money orders. Before then, they first used regular postage stamps. In 1875 they started using the service stamps, shown at the top of Album Page S1.
Note
As you can see, I have all of the postal money order stamps, but only a smattering of the postage due ones. They’re a little expensive and sold typically as singles – not in a set. Of course, I couldn’t afford to buy the whole set in one purchase. This page will take quite a while to complete with unused stamps.
Contains 18 spots: own 9 – 9 unused, 0 used.
Album or Web Page Last changed Feb 4, 2025
Stamp Details
The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.
spot |
own |
catalog |
subject |
description |
comment |
Money Order Stamps
✓ |
SV1 |
20c (jul 1924) |
|||
✓ |
SV2 |
40c (jul 1924) |
|||
✓ |
SV3 |
50c (jul 1924) |
|||
✓ |
SV4 |
1₤ (jul 1924) |
|||
✓ |
SV5 |
2₤ (jul 1924) |
|||
✓ |
SV6 |
3₤ (jul 1924) |
Postage Due - Overprint II
✓ |
S14 |
5c (apr 1920) |
|||
✓ |
S15 |
10c (jan 1920) |
|||
S16 |
20c (may 1920) |
||||
S17 |
30c (nov 1920) |
||||
S18 |
40c (nov 1920) |
||||
S19 |
50c (nov 1920) |
||||
S20 |
60c (nov 1926) |
||||
✓ |
S25 |
60c (nov 1926) |
|||
S21 |
1₤ (apr 1923) |
||||
S22 |
2₤ (apr 1925) |
||||
S23 |
5₤ (may 1920) |
||||
S24 |
10₤ (apr 1920) |
Footnotes
Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.
