San Marino, Republic. A Unique Consulate Of San Marino At Trieste, Habsburg Monarchy (Now Italy) Official Document Stamp C. 1870

Stamp in brass, illustrating the coat-of-arms of San Marino in the centre, surrounded by the inscription "CONSOLATO DELLA REPUBBLICA DI S. MARINO / TRIESTE" (Consulate of the Republic of San Marino, Trieste), the arms and text reverse wrong reading accordingly, measuring 33 mm in diameter, with a black finished wooden handle that incorporates two brass pins, measuring 97.5 mm in height overall, the black finish on the ball handle exhibiting wear, the brass ring between the stamp and handle loose, better than very fine.

Footnote: Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provinces. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste, on a narrow strip of Italian territory lying between the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. Trieste belonged to the Habsburg monarchy from 1382 until 1918. In the nineteenth century the monarchy was one of the Great Powers of Europe and Trieste was its most important seaport. As a prosperous trading hub in the Mediterranean region, Trieste became the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). In the "fin de siècle" period it emerged as an important hub for literature and music. Trieste underwent an economic revival during the 1930s, and the Free Territory of Trieste became a major site of the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs after the Second World War.