SicilyFirst Postage Stamp

The kingdom's last whisper

Issued in January 1859, these were the only stamps ever produced by the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. They were printed in Palermo under Ferdinand II, just months before Garibaldi’s troops would arrive and sweep the kingdom into unified Italy. Each of the seven values in this first issue shows the king’s profile in relief, his neat chin curtain beard framing the jaw, a style apparently fashionable among European monarchs of the mid nineteenth century. Forgeries, especially by the Spiro Brothers and Panelli are widespread. The famous Album Weeds already listed seven kinds of them in the nineteenth century, yet no imitation quite captures the dignity of the originals. Mint copies can impress, but a well placed fancy horseshoe cancellation is truly the prize. For many philatelists, Sicily’s first and last issue remains a small masterpiece of fading elegance, a farewell to a kingdom about to disappear.