The Stamp and Coin Museum, San Marino's story in your pocket

For such a small country, San Marino has told a great deal about itself through stamps and coins. The Museo del Francobollo e della Moneta, the Stamp and Coin Museum, gathers that story in a building that was once the state’s own philatelic and numismatic office. It’s the museum on the pass that fewest people visit, and in my view it’s one of the most rewarding.

Where it is and what it is

It occupies what used to be the state’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office, at number 5 on Piazza Garibaldi, according to the State Museums. It’s 700 m² over two floors, with thousands of pieces spanning the late 1800s to the present. There’s no separate ticket; you use the same State Museums pass that gets you into the towers. How the venues fit together and how to make the most of the pass is in San Marino’s museums.

The stamp floor

The philatelic section displays the stamps issued by the Sammarinese post office from 1877 to the Second World War. Alongside them are the documents I find most interesting, the postal agreements with the Kingdom of Italy, the first letters with the first postmarks, hand stamps, post boxes, original preparatory drawings and printing plates. The modern part shows stamps with the original sketches and paintings by artists such as Corrado Mezzana, Roberto Franzoni, Renato Guttuso, Emilio Greco and Aligi Sassu. Seeing a Guttuso drawing next to the stamp it became is the sort of thing you’ll only find here.

The coin floor

The numismatic route starts with the very rare first Sammarinese coins of the 19th and early 20th centuries and moves on to the state’s commemorative medals. Then come the lire San Marino issued from 1972 to 2001, signed by artists such as Bino Bini, Guido Veroi, Angelo Grilli and Laura Cretara. There’s a space for the gold scudo, which the museum calls the only currency «born in San Marino», and another for circulating and commemorative euros, with their models, dies and punches. If you want to know what a Sammarinese euro is worth today or where to buy one, see my page on San Marino’s coins and stamps.

Hours and admission

Winter opening applies from 27 September 2026, with doors open 09:00 to 16:50 and last admission at 16:30. It shuts on New Year’s Day and Christmas Day, and on the afternoon of 2 November. The pass costs €11, or €8 reduced for over-65s, university students and large groups, and under-18s go free. From 16:00, at the ticket office only, there’s a €5 ticket valid at every venue until closing. That 27 September is also a free-entry day.

My advice is not to leave it until last if you’ve bought the full pass, because the towers and the State Museum take most of the time. But if you arrive late with only 50 minutes left, this museum is the best use of the €5 ticket.

Fitting it in

Piazza Garibaldi is a few steps from the State Museum and Piazza della Libertà, so it slots in between them. With the Palazzo Pubblico closed for restoration in 2026, this museum is also a good way to fill the gap it leaves in the pass. If you’d like to carry on with art, the National Gallery is on the same ticket. And if you leave wanting to use a stamp rather than just look at one, Poste San Marino’s philatelic shop is on the same square, as I explain in how to send a postcard from San Marino.