San Marino

U.N. Vienna, Page UNV 2007.1 (BL-3)

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San Marino is a small country completely surrounded by Italy, on the slopes of the Apennine Mountains about ten kilometers from the Adriatic coast. According to tradition, it was founded on September 3, 301, by Saint Marinus, a stonemason who is said to have fled persecution and settled on Monte Titano. It claims to be the oldest surviving sovereign state.

During Italian unification in the 19th century, San Marino was a refuge for people persecuted for supporting unification, including Giuseppe Garibaldi, who allowed it to remain independent. In 1862, the two countries signed a Convention of Friendship, and the ties have stayed close ever since. Italian is the official language, Italy is responsible for national defense by arrangement, and there are no formalities at the border. However, San Marino cannot grow tobacco or coin its own money, and in exchange Italy provides it with salt, tobacco and matches.

In March 1877, a new postal agreement allowed San Marino to issue its first stamps, and they became a significant source of income. Basically, it is allowed to print its own stamps but not to mint its own coins, so it has to use Italy’s mint. As you can see, the Sammarinese lira was pegged to the Italian lira, and today San Marino uses the euro even though it is not part of the European Union.

Note

The blue and white stamp on the top right belongs to San Marino. Although I’ve been to many places on the Italian peninsula, I’ve never been to San Marino. I’d like to see it. A co-worker of mine sent me a postcard from there in 1985 (see A Postcard from the Past). It’s not too far from Milan. We could rent a car and go there one weekend. Maybe I’ll go next summer with my wife.

Contains 12 spots: own 12 – 12 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.

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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

Flags & Coins

1.1	✓	392a	Trinidad and Tobago Flag & 50 Cent Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor
1.2	✓	392b	Sierra Leone Flag & 10 Cent Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor
1.3	✓	392e	Croatia Flag & 1 Kuna Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor
1.4	✓	392f	Spain Flag & 1 Euro Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor
2.1	✓	392c	Hungary Flag & 100 Forint Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor
2.2	✓	392d	San Marino Flag & 2 Euro Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor
2.3	✓	392g	Kazakhstan Flag & 100 Tenge Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor
2.4	✓	392h	Ireland Flag & 5 Euro Cent Coin	0.55 (may 2007) comm., multicolor

Endangered Species

3.1	✓	388	Grivet Monkey	0.55 (mar 2007) comm., multicolor
3.2	✓	389	Proboscis Monkey	0.55 (mar 2007) comm., multicolor
4.1	✓	390	Hamadryas Baboon	0.55 (mar 2007) comm., multicolor
4.2	✓	391	Common Paras Monkey	0.55 (mar 2007) comm., multicolor

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.

No Covers Found.