The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, commonly known as the Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of a military, chivalric, and noble nature. Though it possesses no territory, the order is often considered a sovereign entity under international law.
This is an introduction to the postal and philatelic history of Italy.
In philately, a cinderella stamp is a label that resembles a postage stamp, but which is not issued for postal purposes by a government administration. There is a wide variety of cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional use by businesses, churches, political or non-profit groups. The term excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.
In philately, the denomination is the "inscribed value of a stamp".
The Vatican post office has operated its own postal service and issued its own postage stamps since 1929.
The scudo is the official currency of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and was the currency of Malta during the rule of the Order over Malta, which ended in 1798. It is subdivided into 12 tarì, each of 20 grani with 6 piccioli to the grano. It is pegged to the euro.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Romania.
The postal history of Malta began in the early modern period, when pre-adhesive mail was delivered to foreign destinations by privately owned ships for a fee. The earliest known letter from Malta, sent during the rule of the Order of St John, is dated 1532. The first formal postal service on the islands was established by the Order in 1708, with the post office being located at the Casa del Commun Tesoro in Valletta. The first postal markings on mail appeared later on in the 18th century.
Republic Square is a piazza in Valletta, Malta. The square was originally called Piazza Tesoreria or Piazza dei Cavallieri, since the treasury of the Order of Saint John was located in the square. After a statue of Queen Victoria was installed in the square in the 19th century, it became known as Queen's Square or Piazza Regina. Although its official name is Republic Square, it is still commonly referred to as Piazza Regina.
The postage stamps and postal history of Israel is a survey of the postage stamps issued by the state of Israel, and its postal history, since independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. The first postage stamps were issued two days later on May 16, 1948. Pre-1948 postal history is discussed in postage stamps and postal history of Palestine.
Between 1851 and 1860, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, an independent Italian state until 1859 when it joined the United Provinces of Central Italy, produced two postage stamp issues which are among the most prized classic stamp issues of the world, and include the most valuable Italian stamp.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Egypt.
Poste Vaticane is an organization responsible for postal service in Vatican City. The organization is part of the Post and Telegraphy Service.
The J.B. Catalogue of Malta Stamps and Postal History is Malta's leading stamp catalogue. It was first published in 1984 and is published bi-annually by Joseph Buttigieg of Sliema Stamp Shop. It is currently in its twenty-second edition (2014). The catalogue originally used the SG numbering system, but from the early 1990s it had separate numbering. It is in English and the prices were denominated in Maltese pounds until 2006, and euros from 2008.
The Halfpenny Yellow is the first postage stamp issued by the Crown Colony of Malta. Depicting Queen Victoria, it was only valid for local postage and it was originally issued on 1 December 1860. It was the only stamp issued by Malta for two and a half decades, and during this period various reprints were made with differences in colour shade, perforation and watermark. When control of Malta's postal service was transferred to the island's colonial government on 1 January 1885, the stamp was withdrawn and it was replaced by a set of definitive stamps.
The flag and coat of arms of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, or the Jerusalem flag, display a white cross on a red field, ultimately derived from the design worn by the Knights Hospitaller during the Crusades.
Pie postulatio voluntatis is a papal bull issued on 15 February 1113 by Pope Paschal II, in which the Pope formally recognized the establishment of the Knights Hospitaller and confirmed its independence and sovereignty. Today, the document is preserved at the National Library of Malta in Valletta, Malta.
The Casa del Commun Tesoro, or Casa dei Conti del Tesoro, is a building in Valletta, Malta, located in Republic Square facing the Bibliotheca. It was originally built to house the Treasury of the Order of St. John. Part of the building housed Malta's first post office, and over the years it was also used as government offices, a hotel and a cinema. Since the early 20th century, it has been the premises of a gentlemen's club known as the Casino Maltese.
The Malta Postal Museum is a postal museum in Valletta, Malta. It is run by the postal operator MaltaPost, and it was inaugurated on 17 June 2016. The museum is housed in a restored 20th-century townhouse in the centre of Valletta, close to the Grandmaster's Palace and the Church of Our Lady of Damascus.
