A Millennium stamp is a postage stamp issued by a

postal administration This is a list of postal entities by country. It includes: *The governmental authority responsible for postal matters. *The regulatory authority for the postal sector. Postal regulation may include the establishment of postal policies, postal rat ...

commemorating a

millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

associated with that country's history but several countries issued stamps for the beginning of the 3rd millennium in same cases depicting some of their country's achievements over the preceding years.

Canada

Canada Post released 68 specially designed stamps as a series of 17 Millennium souvenir sheets, each depicting four different stamps, starting 17 December 1999 through to 17 March 2000. It is not clear, at the present date, whether these issues were justified by any rational policy – or, perhaps, may have been primarily to raise cash from collectors – seventeen four-stamp sets in about thirteen weeks.

Fiji

Fiji released a series of eight stamps depicting some of the flora and fauna of the island nation, being concepts by four artists, Joe Nasau, Jane Borg, Muni Deo Raj and fourteen-year-old Myron Williams.

Great Britain

1999

In 1999 Royal Mail issued a series of stamps that were classified into 12 groups (known as "tales") including Entertainment, Science & Technology and Sport, with one group released in each month during the year. The set issued in September 1999 called ''The Farmers' Tale'' contained a 19p stamp that doubled as Royal Mail's contribution to that year's

Europa postage stamp The Europa postage stamp (also known as Europa - CEPT until 1992) is an annual joint issue of stamps with a common design or theme by postal administrations of member countries of the European Communities (1956–1959), the European Conference of P ...

issue, which was on the theme of Parks and Reserves. One of the most notable postage stamps in the collection was one commemorating the life of

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

frontman (and avid stamp collector) Freddie Mercury. It caused controversy for the appearance of

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

in the background at the drums, as it was an understood rule at the time that the only living people allowed to appear on British stamps could be members of the British Royal Family. However, Sir

Francis Chichester Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE (17 September 1901 – 26 August 1972) was a British businessman, pioneering aviator and solo sailor. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the worl ...

had appeared on a Royal Mail postage stamp, while still alive, in 1967. Other stamps featured: English football hero Bobby Moore; a picture of the structure of DNA; and a fossil of Archaeopteryx, the first known bird. The pack called "Entertainers' Tale" was – 19p : Freddie Mercury (photo, Mercury's Magic/P Blake); 26p : Bobby Moore (artwork, World Cup/M White); 44p : Dalek (photo, Doctor Who/Lord Snowdon) and 64p : Charlie Chaplin (artwork, Chaplin's Genius/Ralph Steadman).

2000

These stamps commemorated a selection of projects throughout the UK which had received funding from the

Millennium Commission The Millennium Commission, a United Kingdom public body, was set up to celebrate the turn of the millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery to assist communities in marking the close of the second millennium and celebra ...

. The stamps were released in 12 monthly sub-collections with 4 stamps apiece, making a total of 48 stamps. So, in 1999 and 2000, some 96 millennium stamps. The stamps featured such projects as the

Eden Project The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS ...

, the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

art gallery, the

National Space Centre The National Space Centre is a museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and astronomy, along with a space research programme in partnership with the University of Leicester. It is located on the north side of the city ...

and the Scottish Seabird Centre.

Ireland

Dublin millennium

The millennium of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, was celebrated in 1988 when An Post issued a 28-pence stamp available both as individual stamps and in a stamp booklet. The ''Dublin Millennium booklet'' was the first to contain commemorative stamps; until then all Irish stamp booklets had only contained definitive stamps.

Year 2000

During 1999 and 2000 a series of 24 stamps was issued depicting a selection of Irish and world-famous people, such as,

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

, Nelson Mandela,

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

and some significant events in Irish history like,

Flight of the Earls The Flight of the Earls ( ir, Imeacht na nIarlaí)In Irish, the neutral term ''Imeacht'' is usually used i.e. the ''Departure of the Earls''. The term 'Flight' is translated 'Teitheadh na nIarlaí' and is sometimes seen. took place in Se ...

Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farme ...

and Irish Independence.

Hong Kong SAR

Hong Kong SAR issued gold millennium stamps.

Laos

Laos issued a miniature sheet of four stamps, showing a Laotian landscape, and, on the

selvage A selvage (US English) or selvedge (British English) is a "self-finished" edge of a piece of fabric which keeps it from unraveling and fraying. The term "self-finished" means that the edge does not require additional finishing work, such as hem ...

, fireworks bursting high in the sky.

Tonga

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

– which was 'first to the millennium', issued a miniature sheet. The stamps (2) are circular.

References

External links

Media reports
on the

controversy Queenonline.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Millennium Stamp Topical postage stamps Postage stamps of the United Kingdom 1999 in the United Kingdom 2000 in the United Kingdom Republic of Ireland postal system