This is a wonderful philatelic cover mailed
in the Vatican City.*
In 1929 the Vatican City issued its first stamps.
On February 11, 1929, the Lateran Treaty
restored limited temporal power
to the Pope by the creation of the Vatican Ctiy in the heart of Rome.
Having established its identity, the Vatican proceeded to issue stamps
based on Italian currency.
This cover has all fifteen of the stamps issued on August 1, 1929.
It was probably a souvenir of a trip to Rome with a stop at the Vatican.
Included are the 13 stamps of the regular postage series
and the two special delivery (express) stamps.
The designs show Pope Pius XI and the Papal Arms.
The cover was addressed to Zurigo (Zurich).
The cover was cancelled with five strong strikes of the Citta del
Vaticano CDS.
It looks like there is the remainder of a registration label which was
probably not used.
There is an octagonal Zurich Telegraph receiver dated January 31.
There is also a January 31 Amb. Roma Firenzi (Rome Florence Railway
Post Office) CDS.
All in all, a delightful way to display a complete used set of stamps!
*Knud-Erik Andersen points out that what Scott calls the Vatican City
is referred
to as Vatican State in Europe and, more specifically, in the Vatican
itself.
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