Italy Sardinia postage stamps year 1861 / 1863 MH / Used

Italy Sardinia postage stamps year 1861 / 1863 MH / Used

📜 Kingdom of Sardinia Stamps (Before Italian Unification)

🏛️ Background

• The Kingdom of Sardinia (which included Piedmont, Liguria, Sardinia and other territories) was a leading state in the movement for Italian unification.
• Its postal reforms brought some of the earliest adhesive postage stamps in Italy — starting in 1851. These remained in use until the early years of the Kingdom of Italy after unification in 1861.

📬 Stamps Valid in 1861–1863

🧾 Sardinia IV Issue (1855–1863)

By the 1860s, the main stamps used were from the Fourth issue of the Kingdom of Sardinia — embossed profile of King Victor Emmanuel II. These continued to be valid in the early years of unified Italy (after 17 March 1861) until Italy began issuing its own stamps.

Typical denominations and colours of this issue:

• 5 c. green
• 10 c. bistre (brownish)
• 20 c. blue
• 40 c. red
• 80 c. yellow
• 3 L. bronze (large high value)

These issues are widely collected and listed in classic catalogues (e.g., Sassone for Italian stamps).

🗞️ Newspaper / Printed Matter Stamps (1861)

In 1861, Sardinia also issued newspaper or printed matter labels similar to postage stamps:

• 1 c and 2 c values for newspapers/printed matter (often catalogued separately).

These differ from the regular postage issues and are usually identified as newspaper stamps with special inscriptions.

📆 Italian Unification and Stamp Changes

• 17 March 1861: The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed under Victor Emmanuel II, previously King of Sardinia.
• Through 1862–1863, the Sardinian designs continued in use — sometimes unchanged, sometimes perforated/printed with Italian inscriptions — until fully replaced by distinct Italian issues.

A well‑known transitional variety is the “15 centesimi litografico”, issued 10 Feb 1863, which was the first official stamp of the Kingdom of Italy, printed quickly without perforation but with Italian wording in the frame.