Alpe Adria 2026 - Poreč

Today is the final day of a great philatelic exhibition in Poreč, Croatia. It was a true pleasure to see some remarkable exhibits and, of course, to catch up and talk philately with friends and colleagues. It was especially great to see those whom I do not have the chance to meet often, such as Mr. Maraković from Vienna and Mr. Novaković from London, who are among the greatest Croatian philatelists of all time.

Nino discussing the details of his "Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina" postal history exhibit, a world-class display awarded two Large Gold medals.

1943 SPLIT, Block of twelve

After Italy's capitulation, the Main Postal Directorate of the Independent State of Croatia overprinted Italian stamps with Ustasha and national emblems. The entire stock of Italian stamps found in Split was sent to Zagreb for overprinting, likely in late September or early October 1943. Of the seventeen different overprinted values, only ten were sent back to Split. The remaining seven values were retained in Zagreb due to their small quantities and speculative potential.

Postage due stamps are among these seven key values. Any units of the key values larger than a block of four are considered great rarities.

According to the literature, only 231 complete sets of the 1943 Split local issue for Dalmatia exist. 

1943 Split local issue for Dalmatia, 3.50 kn / 0.50 Lire, a block of twelve from positions 5-10/15-20. This is the largest known multiple of any of the key value stamps. Certificate Vilfan.