Tuscany '3 Lire' (Italian States)

A government between two states

On the evening of April 27, 1859, on the eve of the Second Italian War of Independence, Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany left Florence for Bologna in a convoy of four carriages. He left no government behind, so the city of Florence appointed a provisional government that same night. Carlo Bon Compagni became extraordinary commissioner, and from May 11 Bettino Ricasoli served as interior minister.

Daily life, including the mail, had to go on. Unlike other provinces in central Italy, Tuscany's provisional government let people keep using the old grand-ducal stamps with the Marzocco, Donatello's lion of Florence, until new ones were ready. Tuscany had issued its first stamps on April 1, 1851.

The new stamps went on sale on January 1, 1860. Tuscans voted on March 11 and 12, 1860, by 366,571 to 14,925, to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the annexation was signed on March 22. Tuscany kept its own administration until February 14, 1861.

Savoy arms and a new currency

The 1860 set had seven values, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 centesimi and 3 lire. It kept the old frame, but the Savoy coat of arms on an ermine mantle replaced the lion. The stamps were 23 millimeters high and 19 wide, typographed, imperforate and printed in sheets of 240 divided into three panes of 80.

The values were in the Sardinian lira of 100 centesimi, the currency of the coming Kingdom of Italy, not the old Tuscan lira. To mark the difference, the value tablet carried the letters 'IT.' for 'italiane,' which writers on the stamp call the first appearance of Italian unity on a postage stamp.

Why a 3 lire stamp at all? Sardinia and the other provisional governments stopped at 80 centesimi. Tuscany's own explanation, as summarized in a history published by an Italian auction house, was that its trade and cultural ties reached far abroad and needed high postage rates for distant mail. Because of its high face value, few 3 lire stamps were printed or used.

Fifty unused, two covers

The series was officially valid until December 31, 1861, although scattered examples stayed in use through 1862 and into early 1863. Its short life and high value left very few 3 lire stamps. Counts agree on about 50 unused examples. One count gives around 270 used stamps and four fragments, while another says fewer than 300 used. Only two covers are known.

One of the two, known as the Faruk letter, was mailed on January 7, 1860, the first week of the issue, by the Medina firm of Livorno to its branch in Alexandria, Egypt. It later belonged to King Farouk I of Egypt. The other belonged to the banker Alphonse de Rothschild, who reportedly bought it in 1880. After his death it went to another French collector. After several more owners it sold at auction in Milan in 1989 for 795 million lire.

Single stamps rarely come to market in top condition. In December 2014 an example sold for 114,000 euros at a two-day sale in Turin, the top lot of a sale that totaled 3 million euros. A 2020 article called it the most valuable Italian stamp of its kind on the market. A Wikipedia survey of Tuscan stamps calls the mint 3 lire the most valuable Italian stamp.

The forger's favorite

High value and rarity attracted forgers. The 3 lire was reprinted on the wrong watermarked paper, and it has been forged as well, so experts' certificates matter more than usual. An unused example offered at a U.S. auction in 2026 carried a 1995 certificate and the signature of the expert A. Diena. It was described with a light crease and a small repaired nick that the certificate did not mention, and it was withdrawn from the sale.

The stamp also has a place in the story of Jean Sperati, the most famous stamp forger of the 20th century. Born in Pistoia in 1884, he is said to have turned to forgery after being cheated with a fake Tuscan 3 lire for which he paid 100,000 francs in 1920. He went on to make thousands of high-quality forgeries, and today his fakes are collected in their own right.

Italy's first word on a stamp

For Italian collectors the 3 lire stands for more than rarity. It was issued while Tuscany was legally neither a grand duchy nor yet part of Italy, and it was priced in the money of a country that did not exist yet. Collectors from the Rothschilds to the king of Egypt sought it out.

A U.S. auction description calls it one of the key rarities of the Italian states and one of the highest-cataloguing classic stamps in the world that is not an error. Its major catalogue lists an unused example at 220,000 euros. Actual sales of unused stamps have been rare.

The numbers

Issue date

January 1, 1860

Validity

Officially to December 31, 1861; used into early 1863

Color

Yellow ochre (ocra arancio)

Printing

Typographed, imperforate, sheets of 240 in three panes of 80

Size

23 mm high by 19 mm wide

Known unused

About 50

Known used

Around 270 (one count), fewer than 300 (another), plus four fragments

Known covers

2

Timeline

1. Apr 1, 1851

   Tuscany issues its first stamps, showing the Marzocco lion.

2. Apr 27, 1859

   Grand Duke Leopold II leaves Florence, and the city appoints a provisional government.

3. May 11, 1859

   Bon Compagni forms a cabinet with Bettino Ricasoli as interior minister.

4. Jan 1, 1860

   The Provisional Government issue goes on sale, with values from 1 centesimo to 3 lire.

5. Jan 7, 1860

   The Medina firm of Livorno mails the later 'Faruk' cover to Alexandria, franked with a 3 lire.

6. Mar 12, 1860

   Tuscany votes to join the Kingdom of Sardinia, 366,571 to 14,925.

7. Mar 22, 1860

   The act of annexation is signed.

8. Dec 31, 1861

   Official end of validity for the 1860 stamps; scattered use continues into early 1863.

9. 1880

   Alphonse de Rothschild reportedly buys one of the two known covers.

10. 1920

    Jean Sperati is said to pay 100,000 francs for a fake 3 lire, a story told about why he became a forger.

11. 1989

    The Rothschild cover sells at auction in Milan for 795 million lire.

12. Dec 12, 2014

    An example sells for 114,000 euros at auction in Turin.

13. 2026

    An unused example with a repaired nick is withdrawn from a U.S. auction.

The world in 1860

• Feb 27, 1860

  Abraham Lincoln gives his Cooper Union speech in New York.

• Apr 3, 1860

  The Pony Express begins service from Missouri to California.

• May 6, 1860

  Garibaldi sails from Quarto with the Expedition of the Thousand.

• Sep 7, 1860

  Garibaldi's forces take Naples.

• Sep 18, 1860

  Piedmontese troops defeat papal forces at Castelfidardo.

• Oct 26, 1860

  At Teano, Garibaldi hands southern Italy to Victor Emmanuel II.

• Nov 6, 1860

  Lincoln is elected president of the United States.

• Dec 29, 1860

  HMS Warrior, the first iron-hulled armored battleship, is launched.

Price record

A price-guide value is an editorial estimate, not a transaction and not an asking price. Guides lag the market and smooth over grade and condition. It is neither a floor nor a ceiling: a sale can land above or below it, and it should be checked against a realized sale before anything rests on it.

By reference price, Tuscany '3 Lire' (Italian States) is number 43 of 100 in the stamps entries of the FLOAT 100. 82 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (68 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Neighboring governments topped out at an 80 centesimi stamp; Tuscany alone issued a 3 lire.
• Its 'IT.' marked the new Italian lira, a currency for a country that did not yet exist.
• One of only two covers went from a Livorno firm to Alexandria in the issue's first week and ended up with Egypt's King Farouk.
• The forger Jean Sperati is said to have started his career after being cheated with a fake Tuscan 3 lire.
• The stamps stayed in use more than a year after they officially expired.