Europa Stamps of Vatican City
2008 to 2012

As we continue our review of the Europa stamps of Vatican City, we move to the years 2008 through 2012. 2008 Europa 2008: The Letter Vatican City, Scott 1374-1375 For 2008, the theme for the Europa issue was “The Letter”. The UFN release states that “through the ages the postal letter has been a primary means of communication among people” and that, even while “a click of the mouse” can provide instant communication, “the letter still fulfills its mission of bringing people together”. The first of the two stamps of the Vatican City issue shows a envelop cover, addressed to 'His Holiness Benedict XVI, Vatican City', with a cachet and cancels over stylized stamps showing the stamp's denomination (0.60 euro). The 0.65-euro stamp shows Pope Benedict XVI writing a letter. 2009 Europa 2009: Astronomy Vatican City, Scott 1411-1412 The theme for the 2009 Europa stamps was “Astronomy”. The theme acknowledges the declaration of the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations, honoring the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first observations of the heavens using a telescope. The two Vatican City stamps come from paintings by Donato Creti. The 0.60-euro stamp is a painting of the Sun, and the 0.62-euro stamp shows Saturn. 2010 Europa 2010: Children’s Books Vatican City, Scott 1439-1440 For the 2010 Europa stamps, which follow the theme “Children’s Books”, Vatican City presented stamps based on images from “The Bible Narrated for Children”, by Gribauldo Publishers. The two stamps were issued on separate six-stamp minisheets. The 0.60-euro stamp has an image of the story of the Garden of Eden, and the 0.65-euro stamp shows an image of children surrounding Jesus. 2011 Europa 2011: Forests Vatican City, Scott 1473 (pair) The theme for the 2011 Europa stamps, “Forests”, focuses on the declaration of the year of 2011 as the International Year of Forests by the United Nations. The UFN release states that forests “cover more than 30% of the earth’s surface and represent a vital source of biological diversity” and “also play a role in mitigating the effect of climate change”. The se-tenant pair of stamps issued by Vatican City show a detail of the painting “The Journey of Moses into Egypt” by Perugino. The stamps were released as a 10-stamp minisheet. 2012 Europa 2012: “Visit…” Vatican City, Scott 1501-1502 The 2012 Europa theme has the interesting title of “Visit…”, as in visit a destination. PostEurop’s choice of this rather open-ended topic allowed the members of the Association the opportunity to interpret many possibilities. The Vatican Post Office chose two images focusing on Christianity and religious destinations. The first pictures the iconic dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica, and the second shows the stained-glass window of the dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, found above Bernini’s magnificent Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter inside the Basilica. REFERENCES: UFN, March 6, 2008, Europa 2008, Letter UFN, May 20, 2009, Europa 2009, International Year of Astronomy UFN, June 22, 2010, Europa 2010, Books for Children UFN, June 21, 2011, Europa 2011, Forests UFN, May 11, 2012, Europa 2012, “Visit…” Vatican Philatelic Society Website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search First Day Covers for Vatican City Europa stamps (2008 and 2010)