V3101

Year 2000

New Century Begins

Fred Collins Signature

Collins Anecdotal Notes 

This Collins First Day Cover with individually hand painted cachet is sure to become a highly sought-after and coveted collectible. It is the last Collins cover of the 1900s and the first one of the 2000s. The triple cancels provide a philatelic teasure trove as it is both a First Day Cover (December 27, 1999) and a monumental New Millennium event cover (December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000). All of the postmarks were personally obtained by Fred Collins at the Hewitt, New Jersey Post Office on the respective dates. Hewitt is the home base of Collins First Day Covers.

The hand painted cachet depicts the New Millennium infant about to crown the 1000s centuries blocks with the special one that begins his reign of the 2000s. The Old Mllennium Father Time watches the inevitable transition approvingly. One hand holds an hourglass as the last grains of sand of the previous ten centuries run their course. The other arm rests on a clock just chiming midnight to herald in the next ten centuries. Above the clock, his hand sentimentally grasps the block that began his reign a thousand years before.

For the first time since I began my cachetmaking in 1978, I have autographed every cover, and the historic January 1, 2000 postmark ties my signature to the envelope. A fitting philatelic welcome to the New Millennium.

Collins Cover Announcement 

Colllins Millennium FDC

"The" cover not to miss!!!

Each one gas triple postmarks

1. The Final Day of 1999

2. The First Day of 2000

 3. The First Day of Issue

Very seldom do I create event covers, but this opportunity was an absolute must. When I did my Mark McGwire cover, marking his Major League record for most home runs in one season, I predicted it would be a valuable cover to own. In my December 1st mail sale, it sold for S53, and it is only a year old. That McGwire cover will soon be a hundred-plus dollar collectible. I now predict the same thing will happen to this fantastic Collins Millennium Cover and would not be surprised to see it reach $200-plus in the next few years. Here is why.

It is both a First Day of Issue Cover and a very special event cover captured by the Last Day of the thousand year millennium, which began with the year 1000, and the First Day of the next thousand year millennium, which begins with the year 2000. To philatelically record this extraordinary passage in the annals of human history, my Millennium First Day Cover will be postmarked on both December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2000 - the last day of the old millennium and the first day of the new one. What a cover!

The new stamp was a complete surprise. Not even the local post offices knew about it until shortly before the issue date. It is prominently used three times on this unique piece of postal history - for the December 27th First Day of Issue as well as for the December 31st and January 1st postmarks that document the changing of the century. The December 27th First Day magenta postmark is from my home base post office of Hewitt, New Jersey. The lightly inked cancel allows all of the details of the new stamp to be clearly visible. For the December 31 st and January 1st Hewitt postmarks, I obtained the large black bullseye with killer bars. These rugged hand cancels were in common use throughout the 1900s but in recent years have been phased out by the new self-inkers. How appropriate that this durable and reliable canceling device, that will soon be a relic of postal history, was used on this cover to say good-bye to one century and to welcome another. In all sincerity, when you see this FDC firsthand, I think you will agree that the dates preserved by the three postmarks make it a philatelic masterpiece.

Autum 2019 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 28 V3101 — Millennium — 12/27/99 

No other cover by any other cachetmaker compares to this one which welcomed in the New Year and, more importantly, marked the beginning of the new Millennium. The new stamp is postmarked in Hewitt, New Jersey (the original home of Collins cachets) on the first day of issue December 27, 1999 with a nice magenta cancel. An additional copy of the new stamp is tied to the envelope with a large Hewitt postmark with killer bars and is cancelled on New Year's Eve and the last day of the old millennium December 31, 1999. Also, the post office opened a short time on January 1, 2000 so I could obtain the New Year's Day/First Day of the New Millennium postmark on a third new stamp.

The hand painted cachet is a beauty. A large Father Time, holding an hourglass, sits on the ground and watches Baby Millennium building a tower of dated wooden blocks with 2000 being placed at the top. These covers were personally signed by me. An interpretive blurb is included.