1921 "Pittorica" first issue, 10L perf. 14, 1c & 2c without wmk perf. 11 with sheet margin at top, these two with faint toning of the original gum as usually found and not detracting; Sassone €5'250. (Image)

1945 10L and 25L mint nh imperf. mini sheets, very fine; Sassone €1'500. (Image)

1937 Flight Addis Abeba-Asmara-Rome. Cover showing three-country franking with Ethiopia 1936 1L25, Somalia 1932 1L75 and Eritrea 1933 5L red in exceptional STRIP OF TEN and single, all tied by "DIRE DAUA - RACCOMANDATE E ASSICURATE 3-10-37" on large cover to Turin, an exceptional item; cert. Longhi (2012). (Image)

1941 Group of three covers incl. 5l + 5l Blue and red block of eight plus block of four on reverse of cover tied by ITACA 1 VIII 41 cds, taxed upon arrival with Greek postage dues, signed Raybaudi; 1941 25c green (2) and 50c lilac tied by ARGOSTOLION 20 OKT 1942 cds on cover to Verona, very fine, cert. Sorani; and 1941 10c brown (5) and two 30c brown tied by ARGOSTOLION 20 JU 1942 cds on cover to Bergamo, faults at top, cert. Sorani. (Image)

1941 Airmails, the first set of eight values in blocks of nine with sheet corner or margin, n.h. and very fine. (Image)

1941 Airmails, the first set of eight values in blocks of four, n.h. and very fine. (Image)

1863 (May 9) Entire from Genoa to Switzerland with 1863 15c pair, just cut into at top and creased, underpaid with "FRANCOBOLLO / INSUFFICIENTE" hs and "Complemento di tassa Ital." cursive hs, reverse with Luzern and Aarau arrival, a fine and rare insufficiently paid mail sent abroad. (Image)

1866 (Jul 21) Entire from Palermo to the USA with 1865 20c on 15c (3) and 1862-65 10c pair, tied by "21" boxed numerals, being 40c underpaid for the 1L20c single rate, with "FRANCOBOLLO / INSUFFICIENTE" hs, French transit and New York due markings, a very scarce insufficiently franked transatlantic mail; signed Vaccari. (Image)

1866 (Aug 24) Entire from Milan to Austria with 1865 20c on 15c pair tied by dotted box numeral with despatch cds adjacent, underpaid with framed "FRANCOBOLLO / INSUFFICIENTE" and "DEBITO ITALIANO CENT." straight-line hs and various due markings, reverse with St. Gallen-Chur, Vienna and Klagenfurt arrival cds's, a fascinating usage. (Image)

1931 Balbo unissued design, unique large artist work by Corrada Mezzana in grey, black and white ink and pencil, depicting Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings of a wing and a flying machine, 40.8x26cm, a beautiful essay. (Image)

1933 (July 25) "Crociera del Decennale" New York-Rome, cover with spectacular U.S. franking with 26 stamps for 3$60c, with large "ITALIAN AIR CRUISE/NEW YORK ROMA" cachet , illustrated "Crociera" blue cachet and "Lido di Roma" arrival on 12.8; cert. G. Bolaffi (1965); Sassone 2'000. (Image)

1934 (Jan) Direct Flight Rome-Buenos Aires, three covers showing the complete sets of four values for Italy, Cirenaica and Tripolitania, each with "PRIMO VOLO POSTALE DIRETTO/1934-XII/ROMA BUENOS AIRES", incl. Italy (Jan 27) and tripolitania (Jan 24) with Pan American Airways large violet framed hs on back, Cirenaica (Jan 28) with "Perduta coincidenza" cachet on back; certs. G. Bolaffi (1966). (Image)

1859 15c grey, complete pane of 30 from the upper left corner of the sheet, full o.g. with only three stamps with faint traces of hinge remnants, superb; cert. Bolaffi (1997). (Image)

Cisappennino Modenese. Sardinia 10c, just touched at top left, otherwise large margins, and two examples of 20c, barely clipped at top, otherwise large margins, paying the single weight to France according to the Franco-Sardinian Convention (14.6.1859) on May 1860 folded cover from Sassuolo, tied by six-bar handstamps in blue with matching ornate "SASSUOLO" and framed "P.D." postmarks at left, French red entry cds below, Italian and french transits on reverse; the 20c in centre exhibiting a previously struck cds of Sardinia dated January 1860, being successfully used to fraud the post; a unique item featuring the following important characteristics in this provisional territory: a very scarce mail sent abroad, one of the very few postal frauds known in all the Italian "Provisional Governments", and the rare franking (unrecorded in the Sassone catalogue with this combination for the 50c rate); cert. Bottacchi (2021). (Image)

1859 40c rose-carmine, complete pane of 30 from the upper left corner of the sheet, showing pos. 17 featuring dot at top before "CENT", full o.g. only including one stamp with traces of hinge remanent, superb; cert. Bolaffi (1997); ex Rothschild. (Image)

1859 80c bister-orange, complete pane of 30 from the lower right corner of the sheet, full o.g. only including one stamp with traces of hinge remanent, superb; cert. Bolaffi (1997). (Image)

1852, Two covers from Reggio, one with 5c with dot after the number in mixed franking with 25c without point, the latter applied on the back; the other (address erased with pen strokes) bearing a 10c on the front and a 25c on the reverse, the former cancelled by double oval with eagle; signed Colla, an attractive pair.
1852, due lettere da Reggio, una con 5 c. con punto dopo la cifran in affr. mista con 25 c. camoscio senza punto (Image)

1852 10c pale rose, no dot after "CENT" variety, complete to large margins, two ordinary 10c. pale rose (one cut slightly into) and 25c light buff, paying the single rate for the first distance to Switzerland on 27.10.1854 entire letter from Modena to Samedan, tied by blue six bars in blue with matching cds on dispatch alongside; a rare franking; certs. Enzo Diena (1990) and Vaccari (2010); Sassone €7'000 for the variety on cover only. (Image)

1852 40c pale blue ('celeste'), large balanced margins all around, tied to piece by six-bar cancel, superb; Sassone €6'000. (Image)

1858 20 gr light rose, complete/wide margins, with small part original gum, cert. A. Diena (1965); Sassone €28,000.
1858, 20 gr. rosa chiaro, II tavola, margini completi/ampi, con piccola parte di gomma (Image)

1861-62 Neapolitan Province POSTAL FORGERY 10Gr bistre tied by NAPOLI 25 GEN 62 on folded cover to Paris, reverse bears clear PARIS 29 JANV, 62 arrival cds, 10Gr with large margins all around, very fine and rare, cert. Oliva and Diena (Sassone € 27'500) (Image)

1852 1/2b deep violet strip of four from upper left corner of the sheet, cancelled with double circle "TOSCANELLA" on 1865 cover to Viterbo, a rare multiple in this shade; Cert. Enzo Diena (1987), signed A. Diena and G. Oliva.
1852, 1/2 b. violetto cupo, striscia di quattro angolo di gruppo su lettera (Image)

1859 5b rose-carmine, a magnificent complete sheet of 100, exhibiting the four panes of 25 and consequently the central block of four with interpanneaus, as well as the other 16 interpanneau pairs resulting from the intersections of the panes, with full original gum (only two stamps with suspicion of hinge remnants) which is faintly toned in few places and two creases through margins between panes not affecting the designs, in a outstanding state of preservation for an item of this large format (indeed those minor imperfections have not been described in any of the two certificates), a very rare and impressive exhibition item; cert. Enzo Diena (1991) and Bolaffi (2004). (Image)

1861 10c red-brown, plate II, very large margins, on entire letter sent within Palermo 28 March 1863, a very rare Sardinia used in Sicily paying the scarce double rate within the district; signed Avanzo, cert. Bottacchi (2002).
1861, 10 c. bruno rossastro, II tavola, margini stupendi, su lettera di Palermo del 28 marzo 1863 per città, uso singolo di Sardegna in Sicilia molto raro, applicato per pagare l'inusuale tariffa doppio porto entro il d (Image)

1855-63 20c indigo, clear to large margins all around, tied by "MAISSANA/16 AGO 1857/*" cds with "rosetta" (asterisk), repeated alongside on folded cover to Torino, the only example recorded of this cancellation with "rosetta", which was discovered in 2016 and consequently registered in the subsequent edition of Sassone Annullamenti with the highest degree of rarity; cert. Sorani (2016); Sassone R3, €35'000. (Image)