Postage stamps

Lombardy-Venetia · 38 stamps

What do the value dots mean?

Common< 5Low5 – 50Medium50 – 500High500 – 5 000Exceptional5 000 +left column mint, right column used · USD, catalogue

1850

1850 Coat of Arms - Watermarked

Issued: 1. June
Watermark: 1 – K.K.H.M. in the sheet
Schematic – shows the device, not its exact proportions
Perforation: Imperforated
Sheet size: 64

Lombardy-Venetia received its stamps on the same day as Austria, 1 June 1850 – the same arms, but in centesimi: 5, 10, 15, 30 and 45. They were printed in sheets of 240, cut into four panes of 60, and imperforate.

From 1858 values were given in soldi.

Sources: Big Blue: Austria & Lombardy-Venetia 1850 coat of arms issue

SW	Type	Value	Colour
1	A	5 Cmi	ochre
2	A1	10 Cmi	black
3	A2	15 Cmi	red
4	A3	30 Cmi	brown
5	A4	45 Cmi	greyish blue
1‑5			Set

1854

1854–1857 As Previous - Not Watermarked

Watermark: None
Perforation: Imperforated
Sheet size: 64

SW	Type	Value	Colour
2A	A5	10 Cmi	black
3A	A6	15 Cmi	red
4A	A7	30 Cmi	brown
5A	A8	45 Cmi	blue

1858

1858 Emperor Franz Joseph - Loops of Bow at Back of Head Broken

Issued: 1. November
Watermark: None
Perforation: 14½

It was forgeries of Lombardy-Venetia's own stamps – in Verona in 1853 and in Milan in 1857 – that led Vienna to a new issue with an embossed portrait, much harder to imitate.

From 1 November 1858 it came in soldi (2, 3, 5, 10 and 15), in the same design as the Austrian kreuzer set, and it was the first perforated issue. The ornament around the emperor's head differs slightly from value to value; Type I is known by the open ribbon loop at the back of the head, shaped like a '3'.

Sources: Austria-Forum: Freimarken 1858, Wikipedia (de): Kaiserkopfausgabe 1858

SW	Type	Value	Colour
6	B	2 So	yellow
7	C	3 So	black
8	D	5 So	red
9	E	10 So	purple brown
10	F	15 So	blue
6‑10			Set

1858 As Previous - Loops at Back of Head Complete

Watermark: None
Perforation: 14½

SW	Type	Value	Colour
11	B1	2 So	yellow
12	C1	3 So	black
13	C2	3 So	green
14	D1	5 So	red
15	E1	10 So	purple brown
16	F1	15 So	blue
11‑16			Set

1861

1861–1862 Emperor Franz Joseph

Watermark: None
Perforation: 14

After the war of 1859 Austria lost Lombardy, and stamps in soldi remained valid only in Venetia. The new set with the emperor's head facing right in an oval appeared in Austria around the turn of 1860 and 1861, but the Venetian values came later – 5 soldi in June 1861 and 10 soldi in June 1862 – because the loss of Lombardy had left large stocks of the 1858 soldi stamps.

The dies for the embossed printing were engraved by Tautenhayn; the stamps were valid until 31 May 1864.

Sources: Austria-Forum: Freimarken 1860

SW	Type	Value	Colour
17	G	5 So	red
18	G1	10 So	reddish brown
17‑18			Set

1863

1863 Eagle

Issued: 1. July
Watermark: None
Perforation: 14

As in Austria, in 1863 the emperor's head gave way to the double eagle after the German-Austrian Postal Union decided that the most-used values of its members should share the same colours.

The white eagle in a coloured oval was embossed from dies engraved by Josef Tautenhayn. In Venetia these stamps were valid until October 1866.

Sources: Austria-Forum: Doppeladler der Freimarken 1863 und 1864

SW	Type	Value	Colour
19	H	2 So	yellow
20	H1	3 So	green
21	H2	5 So	rose
22	H3	10 So	blue
23	H4	15 So	dark brown
19‑23			Set

1864

1864 Eagle - Different Perforation

Watermark: None
Perforation: 9½

SW	Type	Value	Colour
24	H5	2 So	yellow
25	H6	3 So	green
26	H7	5 So	rose
27	H8	10 So	blue
28	H9	15 So	dark brown
24‑28			Set