07.03.2000

 
 

No. of stamps in the set:	4 stamps
Quantity:
Face values:	6c, 16c, 22c, 27c
Size:	55.0 x 32.8 mm
Presentation:	Sheets of 10 stamps
Colours:	Multi
Gum:
Paper:
Perforation:	13.75 per 2 cm
Print technique:	Offset
Author, design:	Frank X. Ancilleri
Printers:	Bundesdruckerei GmbH

First Day Cover:

Designs: 

6c Boats
16c People
22c Carnival
27c Nightlife

On the 7th March 2000 Maltapost plc issued the second set of postage stamps of the new millennium.
This set consist of four stamps and endeavor to give visual meaning to the changes wrought on the Maltese and Gozitan landscape and culture during the last hundred years.

The last century was perhaps the one that caused the greatest upheaval on everything that is Malta and Maltese. In previous centuries fundamental changes were brought about by the different colonizers our islands had to submit to. However these changes, although cataclysmic in their immediate political effects, were followed by long periods of enforced stability if not a measure of gradual social progress.

This state of affairs was bound to change with the dawning of the new century. The death of that paradigm of stability and conservatism, Queen Victoria, towards the end of the previous century, the waves of new inventions which were brought to our shores by our colonial masters, two world conflicts which introduced the Maltese to alternate bouts of social suffering, political stirrings and new progressive social mores, all contributed to modify the idyllic setting of our islands.

The stamps purport changes by a set of contrasting images showing the old and the new. A fortified harbour is being converted into a haven for cruise liners. Previously picturesque bays have been turned into a modern cacophony of lights, traffic, entertainment and  business. Old traditions like the village festa which were once thought to be in decline, have been turned into entertainment for the masses and the tourist, while previously unsullied Gozitan landscape are now themselves suffering the onslaught of consumerism.      
        
Now standing on the threshold of a new century, we have learned that change is good but in order for change to be beneficial to all and sundry, it must be channelled in chosen directions, and managed to neutralise any ill effects. 
          
We can only conjecture at what changes the new century will bring but one thing we must be sure of; a commitment that this cen|ury will be better than  the last.            
 

Malta Post Office welcomes your orders and inquiries:

Catalogue index
Sitemap
To Main Page