FLOAT
A grid-canceled 4-bajocchi of the Papal States 1852 first issue (Yvert 5), papal-arms design - an example of the issue; the unique mint sheet of 50 named by this constituent is not pictured.

Papal States 1852 First Issue

Maker
Papal States (Pope Pius IX administration)
Year
1852
Rank
70 of 100

Papal States 1852 First Issue

Papal States 1852 First Issue by Papal States (Pope Pius IX administration) (1852) is ranked 70 in the FLOAT 100 for Stamps. It sold for $138,504 on 15 December 2021. The 1852 papal-arms first issue is the cornerstone of Italian-states philately; the unique complete sheet is the headline rarity.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The 1852 papal-arms first issue is the cornerstone of Italian-states philately; the unique complete sheet is the headline rarity.

Sassone first issue, papal-arms design (bajocchi/scudi); the record lot = the unique complete mint sheet of 50

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$138,504
Kind
Realized at auction
Date
15 December 2021

David Feldman SA, 2021 Autumn Auction Series (All World & Collections), lot 40206, sold 15 Dec 2021: the exact item named in the identifier — Papal States 1852 1 scudo carmine-rose, the unique complete mint sheet of 50 with the interpanneau between the 5th and 6th rows, original gum, Sassone 11, ex Alphonse Rothschild, with Enzo Diena (1990) and Raffaele Diena (1993) certificates. The lot page states 'Price realized 120,000 EUR' against a 120,000-160,000 estimate; that is hammer, exclusive of buyer's premium. Converted at EUR/USD 1.1542 (2026-08-06) = USD 138,504. Museum of Philately records the same sale as 146,400, which is hammer plus a 22% premium; that page renders it with a pound sign but it is the euro total, so the auction house's own figure is used instead. The sheet previously sold at Phillips' Alphonse sale, 25 Oct 1990, lot 136, for GBP 200,000 hammer.

This is a realized sale. Somebody paid it. Source.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08