Vatican makes extraordinary profit on stamps

Catholic World News reports the Vatican reaped an extraordinary profit of nearly $6 million on the sale of postage stamps in 2005.

The death of Pope John Paul II provoked a rush of demand for the last Vatican stamps with his image (shown above). Then the first stamps issued with the likeness of Pope Benedict XVI, appearing in June, were also popular.

During the period before the election of the new Pontiff, the Vatican camerlengo, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo authorized the issued another set of stamps valid only for the interregnum period, which were quickly snapped up by collectors. With the election of Benedict XVI, these stamps lost all postal value.

The stamps are valid for the so-called ”interregnum,” the timespan that begins with the death of the pope and ends when a new one is elected, but other Vatican stamps also will be valid in that period.

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