Umberto I

On January 9, 1878, at the age of 57, Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy, then the first king of Italy, died at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. He’s buried in the Pantheon in Rome. I’ve been to that palace and I’ve seen his tomb at the Pantheon. He was succeeded by his son, Umberto I, when he was about 34 years old.

This page of my stamp album contains the first stamps of Umberto I. These are definitives which were used for several years. Over the years that follow these, many more stamps will be issued with the likeness of Umberto I, until he was assasinated by an Italian-American in the Summer of 1900. He’s also buried in the Pantheon and I’ve seen his tomb, as well.

As you can see, you learn a lot about a country and its history when you collect its stamps. As a fairly new Italian citizen – I received my citizenship at the beginning of 2021 – I’m enjoying this project of reviving and sorting through my Italian stamp collection.

It was this king who had dreams of building an empire. That required conquering and taking other countries or lands. Perhaps he was inspired by his father’s desire, Vittorio Emanuele III, to have been respected by other monarchs, wanting a kingdom beyond what he inherited. His father accomplished that, thanks to Giuseppe Garibaldi. So the son wanted to do the same, but more: to build an empire to make his father proud and to be even more respective amongst monarchs of Europe.

Note

Although I did the layout of this page with many stamps on it, it’s almost finished. There’s one more that I need to complete the page. It’s a litte expensive for one stamp. I’m hoping I can get it at a better price through an auction. I haven’t seen one offered at auction yet, but I’m watching for it.

Contains 18 spots: own 17 – 15 unused, 2 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

Adorned Numbers

1.1	✓	1	Numeral 1	1c (jan 1893) definitive, grey olive
1.2	✗	2	Numeral 2	2c (jan 1893) definitive, red brown
1.3	✓	3	Coat of Arms	5c (jan 1893) definitive, green

Umberto’s Reign Begins

2.1	✓	4	Umberto I	10c (jan 1893) definitive, carmine
2.2	✗	5	Umberto I	20c (jan 1893) definitive, brown orange
2.3	✓	6	Umberto I	25c (jan 1893) definitive, blue
2.4	✓	7	Umberto I	40c (jan 1893) definitive, brown
3.1	✓	8	Umberto I	45c (jan 1893) definitive, grey olive
3.2	✓	9	Umberto I	60c (jan 1893) definitive, violet
3.3	✓	10	Umberto I	1₤ (jan 1893) definitive, brown yellow
3.4		11	Umberto I	5₤ (jan 1893) definitive, blue & carmine	meloni (€ 173) only 1 stamp.

Savoy Emblem

4.1	✓	12	Coat of Arms	1c (aug 1899) definitive, dark brown
4.2	✓	13	Coat of Arms	2c (aug 1899) definitive, dark brown red
4.3	✓	14	Coat of Arms	5c (jul 1897) definitive, green

Umberto I

5.1	✓	15	Umberto I	10c (jun 1898) definitive, brownish carmine
5.2	✓	16	Umberto I	20c (jan 1895) definitive, orange
5.3	✓	17	Umberto I	25c (nov 1895) definitive, light blue
5.4	✓	18	Umberto I	45c (jan 1896) definitive, olive

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.