Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1454, in Florence. He was the third son of a notary, and his family was politically well connected and on good terms with Lorenzo de’ Medici. From 1482 he worked for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, handling business at home and abroad. In 1488, the Medici sent him to Seville to assess their agent there. By 1492 he had settled in the city permanently, where he helped provision Columbus’s voyages. Basically, he was a merchant and not an explorer, at least at first.

In 1499, Vespucci joined Alonso de Ojeda’s expedition, probably as a commercial representative rather than a leader. The fleet explored the coast of South America. In 1501, he sailed as a pilot with a Portuguese fleet under Gonçalo Coelho, reaching Brazil in August and naming Rio de Janeiro. He described these lands as a new world (Mundus Novus in Latin) in a 1503 letter to Lorenzo de’ Medici, and it was enormously popular. A second letter, published in 1505, claims four voyages in total. However, its authorship and accuracy are widely questioned, and historians disagree on whether he made two, three or four.

In 1505, Vespucci became a citizen of Castile and León, and in 1508 he was named piloto mayor (chief pilot) of the Casa de Contratación in Seville. He was responsible for training and licensing pilots, as well as for compiling the Padrón Real, a model map built from the pilots’ reports. In the meantime, Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann had put the name “America” on a world map in 1507. Most historians believe Vespucci never knew about it. Gerardus Mercator later applied the name to both continents in 1538. Vespucci died in Seville on February 22, 1512.

Note

The stamps on the third row depict Amerigo Vespucci. As an American, I have to like him. Notice that they’re two pairs. The first pair are easy enough to find. The second pair are more difficult. The difference is the size of the perforation, which is written on the album page above them. I found one used, but couldn’t find the other in any condition. I’ve been searching for the two of them unused for over four years.

Contains 10 spots: own 9 – 8 unused, 1 used.
Album or Web Page Last changed Feb 9, 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
1.1	✓	743	Italian Touring Club	25₤ (sep 1954) comm., green & red
2.1	✓	744	Interpol 23rd Genl. Assembly	25₤ (oct 1954) comm., red
2.2	✓	745	Interpol 23rd Genl. Assembly	60₤ (oct 1954) comm., sky blue
2.3	✓	746	Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi) (1826-1890)	25₤ (oct 1954) comm., red
3.1	✓	749	Amerigo Vespucci	25₤ (dec 1954) comm., brown lilac
3.2	✓	750	Amerigo Vespucci	60₤ (dec 1954) comm., black lilac
3.3		749A	Amerigo Vespucci	25₤ (dec 1954) comm., brown lilac
3.4	✗	750A	Amerigo Vespucci	60₤ (dec 1954) comm., black lilac
4.1	✓	751	Marian Year, Perugino	25₤ (dec 1954) comm., brown
4.2	✓	752	Marian Year, Pieta by Michelangelo	60₤ (dec 1954) comm., grey

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.