STAMPS L ' I In the Newf L 1 J Vatican City postal officials were faced with a unl attuatlon upon tha death of Pope Ptua XI on February Feb-ruary 10. That wa the first time Ince the Vatican was declared an independent atate In 192 that it had been without a pope. The authorities took note of thie ituation by Issuing a provisional stamp bearing the overprint, "Sede Vacante." which means, literally, "seat vacant." During the interim of 80 days until Eugenio Cardinal PaeelU waa elected pope, this-stamp In seven denominations waa in circulation. As far as can be learned. It Is the first provisional sump ever to be issued by the papacy certainly the first by Vatican City. Persona thronged the city's post office to buy the sump after it appeared. When Italy became a nation back in the 1860's, the pope, ahorn of all temporal powers, waa a virtual "prisoner" at the Vatican. He was subject to Italian laws and the Vatican Vati-can waa a part of Rome. Naturally Natur-ally this was distastaful to the papacy- . . The late Pius XI and Mussolini finally negotiated the Lateran trea- : I ties In 1929 whereby the Vatican was set apart aa a wholly independent inde-pendent atate. Now it has its own railroad (about 1300 yards). Its own jail, and its own postal system. $180,000 Stamp Auction Probably the most spectacular sale in recent months la being held , now in Philadelphia, In the Fidelity-Philadelphia Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust building. On the block is the 8180,000- collection of Twentieth Century British Empire Em-pire stamps owned by the late Henry W. Roth of St. Davids, Pa. The sale haa been split up into three auctions. February's auction (the first) drew representatives of President Roosevelt. Secretary Ickea and King Carol of Rumania, as well as dealers from all parte of the world. At that auction, the highest price paid for a stamp waa $2050 for one of the 89 known mint copies issued by Newfoundland for the De Pinedo flight. The stamp had been listed at ' $4000. The highest valued stamp In j the collection will I be auctioned in j April. . That Is a I in ni fr i iri- 1902 King Edward VII British stamp in the 10-shilling value. Its listing, $9000. The regular lssus of this stamp la worth only $9. This one gets value from the fact that it's surcharged, in black. "I. R. Official." Other rare stamps to go on the block in April are a companion to the one just mentioned, a one pound I. R. Official (listed at $3000) : and a one-shilling King Edward VII for 1902 with the "Board of Education" surcharge (listed at $2SO0). The stamp illustrated above will also be on sale. It's a 8100-value, stamp of the British crown colony. Straits Settlements on the Malay Peninsula. It bears the portrait of King George V and is listed at 8260.