Postage Stamps of Italy

by Tony Clayton

Occupation of Former Austrian Terrirories

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Trentino-Alto Adige

After the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in November 1918 Italy occupied a number of areas of the former Empire prior to assimilation into the Kingdom of Italy.

The first issue, on 11th November 1918 consisted of overprinted Austrian stamps. On the 6th December a new issue of Italian stamps overprinted Venezia Tridentina were made.

20 centesimi Sassone 23.	1 lire used on piece Just 5000 issued. Note the Trento 1 postmark which has had the German text removed from the upper half Sassone 27.
10 centesimi postage due provisional Due to an absence of Postage Due stamps Bolzano 1 office used a T handstamp Sassone BZ1/13.	5 and 20 heller postage due provisional Issued by Bolzano 3 office in February 1919 Sassone BZ3/130 and 132.

Venezia Giulia

As with Trentino-Alto Adige. the first issue, in November 1918 consisted of overprinted Austrian stamps. The 40 heller olive is particularly scarce, but not so scarce as the top four values, 2, 3, 4 and 10 kronen. The 10 kronen is exceedingly rare, as only 37 were overprinted by hand as presentation items.

40 heller olive Sassone 10.

3 kronen rose-carmine. Variety: No stop after 18 (position 12) Only 72 copies were printed. Sassone 16k.

Later in 1918 Italian stamps overprinted Venezia Giulia were issued.
The 60c value is difficult to find in fine used condition.

60 centesimi carmine Sassone 28.

10 centesimi postage due with overprint displaced horizontally Sassone 2e.

5 centesimi postage due with overprint inverted Sassone 1a.

Trento and Trieste

The above two series were replaced in January 1919 by a unified series denominated in Corona which remained valid until April 1919. After that date Italian stamps in lira were used, except for Dalmatia.

The overprint was in a serif typeface, and there are many variations in the overprint, two of which are shown below.

40 centesimi di corona 'ccrona' instead of 'corona' Sassone 7l.

60 centesimi di corona '00' instead of '60' error in pair with normal Sassone 10l and 10.

Postage Due, 10 centesimi di corona A stunning block of 4 with inverted value and overprint Sassone 2c.

Dalmatia

Dalmatia continued to use the Trento and Trieste corona overprints until they were replaced in 1921 by similar stamps but with the overprint in a sans-serif typeface, a common cause of confusion. The exception was the 1 corona on 1 lire, which used a 'una corona' overprint from 1st May 1919 rather than the '1 corona' used in Trento and Trieste.

una corona on 1 lire, with an example of the 'small a in una' variety Sassone 1 and 1b.

50 centesimi di corona Sassone 5.

5 corona This stamp is usually badly centered Sassone 7.

Lire 1,20 di corona Express. This stamp was not issued as the phrase 'Lire di corona' was incorrect. Sassone 2.

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