Vatican City - Pius XI – Editorial Prints

Following the creation of the Vatican City State, adhesion to the UPU occurred and the consequent access to the related postal rates for correspondence sent directly abroad, of course identical to those applied to Italian correspondence. Among these, particularly useful due to the high traffic, was the 'editorial prints' rate set at 12.5 centesimi instead of the 25 centesimi of ordinary stamps. The curiosity was that, until the issue of the Vatican S21 in May ’33, neither Italy nor the Vatican had a 12.5-cent stamp, though it was greatly needed.
In daily practice, Vatican publishers over time adopted three different solutions:
- overfranking with a 25-cent stamp
- overfranking by 15 centesimi (better to lose 2.5 cents than 12.5!) highlighting the UPU regulation
- finally frankling with the exact rate using Vatican S21
The three postal items in the lot illustrate the situation exactly. together they are uncommon and of great interest to lovers of postal history.