San Marino

San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, is an enclaved microstate surrounded by Italy, situated on the Italian Peninsula on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains.
Its size is just over 61 km2, with a population of about 33,000. Its capital is the City of San Marino and its largest city is Dogana.
Geographically the third smallest state in Europe (after the Holy See and Monaco), San Marino also claims to be the world's oldest republic and has the smallest population of the ll members of the Council of Europe.
The country's economy mainly relies on finance, industry, services and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP (per capita), with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions.
San Marino is considered to have a highly stable economy, with one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, no national debt and a budget surplus. It is the only country with more vehicles than people. ^[R1]

The first San Marino postage stamps were a definitive stamp set consisting of two designs covering seven denominations. The stamps, which depict the Three Towers of San Marino at Monte Titano, were created by the design firm Fratelli Pellas in Genoa and the stamps were printed on Italian watermarked paper by the Officina Carta e Valori in Turin. Commemorative stamp editions were introduced in 1894. ^[R2]

Official stamps of San Marino related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals

30.06.1965 "Prehistoric animals" [1]	11.02.2025 "Europe - National Archaeological Discoveries" [2]

Notes:

[1] This set is one of the very first pictorial sets of Dinosaurs issued ever. There are a lot of FDCs with these stamps, perhaps all are personalized.

[2] The Europa 2025 postal series is dedicated to national archaeological discoveries and highlights the rich historical and cultural heritage of the Republic of San Marino. The finds included in the series underline the importance of preserving and enhancing the testimonies of the past, promoting greater awareness for future generations. The stamp depicts the so-called “San Marino fin whale” (scientific name Titanocetus sammarinensis), an extraordinary cetacean dating back to the Miocene period, whose fossil remains were found in 1897 in a stone quarry near the summit of Mount Titano. The exceptional find has aroused the interest of the international scientific community. The original finds are kept at the G. Capellini Museum of Paleontology and Geology in Bologna, while the right hemimandible, the cast of the skull, the ribs and the left hemimandible are exhibited at the Natural History Museum of San Marino.

Other stamps of San Marino to consider: contributors to Paleontology, Charles Darwin, stylized prehistoric animals

21.04.1983 "Pioneers оf Science" [A1]	08.04.2008 "European Year of Intercultural Dialogue" [A3]	09.05.2012 "40th anniversary of UNESCO heritage" [A2]

Notes:
[A1] Carl Linnei shown on a stamp with face value of 400 of "Pioneers of Science" set.

Charles Darwin and Pteranodon on stamp of San Marino 2012 MiNr.: 2520, Scott: 1864c

Carl Linnaeus on stamp of San Marino 1983 MiNr.: 1274, Scott: 1044

Carl Linnei (1707 - 1778) Sweden Carl Linnaeus, was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature used today in all of the Biological Sciences including Paleontology.
He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology.

[A2] Two stamps on the right side of the block are related to te Galapagos Islands. Charles Darwin and a Pteranodon (flying prehistoric reptile) are shown on one of them.

Pteranodon is a genus of pterosaurs which included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with wingspans over 6 metres.
It lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
More fossil specimens of Pteranodon have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. Pteranodon was not a dinosaur.
By definition, all dinosaurs belong to either order within Dinosauria, either Saurischia or Ornithischia. As such, this excludes pterosaurs. Nonetheless, Pteranodon is frequently featured in dinosaur media and is strongly associated with dinosaurs by the general public. ^[R3]

[A] The stamp from "European Year of Intercultural Dialogue" sheet of 3, San Marino 2008, shows Pangea, an ancient supercontinent.

Pangea, in early geologic time, a supercontinent that incorporated almost all the landmasses on Earth. Pangea was surrounded by a global ocean called Panthalassa, and it was fully assembled by the Early Permian Epoch (some 299 million to about 273 million years ago).
The supercontinent began to break apart about 200 million years ago, during the Early Jurassic Epoch (201 million to 174 million years ago), eventually forming the modern continents and the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Pangea’s existence was first proposed in 1912 by German meteorologist Alfred Wegener as a part of his theory of continental drift. Its name is derived from the Greek pangaia, meaning “all the Earth.” ^[R6]

Commemorative postmarks of San Marino related to Paleontology: fossils.

Legend is here

09.06.1979 "International Fossils and Minerals trade show" [Sp] [PM1]	11.02.2025 "Europe - National Archaeological Discoveries" [FDC]

Notes:
[PM1] The dinosaur on the postmark is most probably Ouranosaurus nigeriensis (genus of herbivorous iguanodont dinosaur).

Mounted sekeleton of Ouranosaurus nigeriensis from Venice's Natural Museum. Image credit: the museum website

Fossils of the dinosaur were discovered by the Italian expedition, organized by the Italian entrepreneur and philanthropist Giancarlo Ligabue, founder of the Centro Studi e Ricerche Ligabue, Venice, who donated it to the museum. ^[R4]

Since 1975, a nearly complete mounted skeleton of Ouranosaurus nigeriensis has been exhibited at the Museo di Storia Naturale (Natural History Museum) of Venice, Italy. ^[R5]

Others commemorative postmarks of San Marino to consider.

Legend is here

08.04.2008 "European Year of Intercultural Dialogue" [A4] [FDC]

References

•   [R1] San Marino: Wikipedia, WikiTravel, Flag Counter
  
•   [R2] Postal History and Philately of San Marino: Wikipedia,
            Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of San Marino are here.
•   [R3] Pteranodon: Wikipedia.
•   [R4] Ouranosaurus nigeriensis: "The Venice specimen of Ouranosaurus nigeriensis".
•   [R5] Natural History Museum of Venice: official website.
•   [R6] Pangea: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Acknowledgements

• Many thanks to fellow collectors David Bressan from the USA and Ton van Eijden from the Netherlands for their help finding an information about the dinosaur shown on the postmarks from 1979.
• Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for reviewing the draft page and his valuable comments.