Vatican’s Sede Vacante stamps, coins

March 04, 2013 - The Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican has issued four stamps commemorating the current ‘Sede Vacante’ (the Latin for ‘Empty See’), the period between Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation on Feb. 28 and the election of his successor, where there is no Pope. The stamps have the face values of €0.70, €0.85, €2.00 and €2.50 for mailing to Italy, Europe, Americas and the rest of the world respectively. Besides being ssold individually, all the 4 stamps are also included in an attractive folder costing €15.00. A smaller folder on Pope Benedict XVI's renunciation of the pontificate, includes two stamps and costs €10.00. The use of these stamps as postage is only available during the Sede Vacante, ending with the election of the new Pope. Their philatelic use is allowed afterwards and the office will continue to sell them to collectors. A €2.00 coin commemorating the Sede Vacante will also be issued along with another one with the image of Benedict XVI. Besides, there is also a silver €5.00 coin and gold €10.00 coin for the Sede Vacante, which are collectors items and, theoretically, can only be used within the Vatican, and are not a legal tender outside the Vatican.