New Definitives

On October 1, 1945, Italy began issuing a new set of definitive stamps known as the Democratica. The war in Italy had ended in the spring, and the country was still a monarchy, with Umberto II serving as lieutenant of the Kingdom for his father. The first part of the series was fourteen ordinary postage stamps, and more values, including airmail and express stamps, were added in the following months.

The set used seven designs by several artists, among them A. Lalia, R. Garrasi and P. Paschetto, and the paper carries a winged wheel watermark. Italy had just come out of twenty years of Fascism, so the designs were meant to look like a break with the past. According to some dealers, tools of rebuilding such as a hammer, an anvil and scales replaced the old fascist symbols. The values ran up to 100 lire, though not all of them appeared in 1945.

When the Republic was proclaimed after the referendum of June 2, 1946, the Democratica was already in use. As a result, it’s generally treated as the first series of the Republic, even though the first stamps came out under the monarchy. More values were added in 1946, 1947 and 1948. The 10 lire grey was forged so often that it was withdrawn on April 3, 1948, and replaced by a vermilion version. As you can see, the series sits right between the Kingdom and the Republic.

Note

I have all of these stamps, but several of them are used. I want all unused ones. I’ll try to replaced the used ones, but I may not be able to find them sold separately. I may have to buy a complete set of them – at least the first five rows, since the last three stamps aren’t from the same set – and just discard or give away the duplicates.

That large, red horizontal one at the bottom – the Sassone catalog number 565 – is very expensive. When it’s sold separately, I’m seeing prices starting at two-hundred euros. The other expensive one is on the fifth row here, last stamp: Sassone 563. That one sells from thirty to seventy-five euros by itself.

I can buy a set with all of these stamps except those two expensive ones for sixty euros, and buy those two later. However, I’ve seen all of these stamps, including those two, sold in one set for a little under two-hundred euros. So, although I’ll have duplicates, it may be worth it to buy a set of all of them.

Contains 23 spots: own 23 – 23 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Jan 1, 2023

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

Democracy

1.1	✓	543	Hammer & Chain Freedom	10c (oct 1945) definitive, red brown
1.2	✓	544	Family & Scales Justice	20c (oct 1945) definitive, brown
1.3	✓	545	Flaming Torch Enlightenment	25c (oct 1946) definitive, green
2.1	✓	546	Olive Sapling A New Future	40c (oct 1945) definitive, gray green
2.2	✓	547	Hammer & Chain Freedom	50c (jul 1946) definitive, purple
2.3	✓	548	Farmer with Shovel Working for Peace	60c (oct 1945) definitive, black green
2.4	✓	549	Hammer & Chain Freedom	80c (oct 1945) definitive, pink carmine
3.1	✓	550	Olive Sapling A New Future	1₤ (oct 1945) definitive, grey green
3.2	✓	551	Flaming Torch Enlightenment	1.20₤ (oct 1945) definitive, red brown
3.3	✓	552	Farmer with Shovel Working for Peace	2₤ (oct 1945) definitive, brown lilac
3.4	✓	553	Flaming Torch Enlightenment	3₤ (oct 1945) definitive, red
3.5	✓	554	Flaming Torch Enlightenment	4₤ (may 1946) definitive, orange
4.1	✓	555	Family & Scales Justice	5₤ (oct 1945) definitive, dark blue
4.2	✓	556	Olive Sapling A New Future	6₤ (may 1947) definitive, violet
4.3	✓	557	Hammer & Chain Freedom	8₤ (jan 1948) definitive, dark green
4.4	✓	558	Hammer & Chain Freedom	10₤ (oct 1945) definitive, grey slate
5.1	✓	559	Family & Scales Justice	10₤ (oct 1947) definitive, orange
5.2	✓	560	Olive Sapling A New Future	15₤ (jul 1946) definitive, sky blue
5.3	✓	561	Flaming Torch Enlightenment	20₤ (oct 1945) definitive, purple
5.4	✓	563	Flaming Torch Enlightenment	30₤ (dec 1947) definitive, blue
6.1	✓	562	Olive Tree Stump Victory from Old Ruins	25₤ (oct 1945) definitive, green
6.2	✓	565	Family & Scales Justice	100₤ (jul 1946) definitive, bright carmine
6.3	✓	564	Olive Tree Stump Victory from Old Ruins	50₤ (oct 1945) definitive, brown

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.

remaining stamps & stories in sub-album

page	story	note	used	need	ordered

Main Page		✓
Works of Michelangelo		✓
Castle Definitives		✓
Women Art Definitives		✓
Simple Definitives