What use for a 4,54 euro stamp in Monaco ?

The 16th of March, the Office des émissions de timbres-poste of Monaco (OETP) issued two stamps figuring Italian personalities : famous Giuseppe Garibaldi who fought for the Italian unification, and comedy author Carlo Goldoni.

The 1,40 € value for Garibaldi is uncommon, but can be found easily: priority letter from 50 to 100 grammes to a European Union country. However, 4,54 € for Goldoni should ask one more condition.

The Carlo Goldoni stamp with some of th author's characters (OETP website).

4,54 € is the franking of a recorded delivery letter less than 20 grammes inside France and its postal administrations (Monaco, Andorre, and French overseas), with an insurance R3 (you can be repaid in case of lost for a 153 to 458 € value of content). With a little more cents, you can send a heavier letter with a lower insurance.

How happy the collector who will possess such a letter and with enough intels about the expeditor to be sure the letter will not be for philatelic purpose. A bank or insurance agency sending a check to a client ? Attorney or notary office sending an important contract ?

Outside curious postal tarriffs, these two stamps have something in common: their author Irio Ottavio Fantini (with engraving of Pierre Albuisson for Garibaldi). This Italian illustrator of movie posters has been working for more than 30 years for Vatican Radio, Television and Post. Since 1999, he's been designing stamps for Monaco, first with christian topics, then with portraits of historic personalities.