A new selection of stamps reminds collectors of the island’s ancient heritage.
The Post Office has released the Manx National Treasures collection featuring six significant archaeological artifacts dating back to 2000 BC.
A recent exhibition featured the remarkable objects on loan from the British Museum in London.
Stamp one shows a Viking Age bronze brooch dating to 900 AD. A Viking woman would have pinned the brooch to the shoulders of an apron-like dress.
Stamp two features a 4000 year old necklace worn by a woman buried at Berk Farm near Kirk Michael.
The third stamp presents a bronze spoon from 400-100 BC. This “fortune-telling” spoon is the first found on the Isle of Man and one of only 28 found in the entire world.
Stamp four is another Viking Age brooch from 950 AD. This silver brooch is one of the largest of its kind and found with an arm-ring of roughly 90% of pure gold.
The fifth stamp jumps to the end of the Medieval Period and shows a Silver Crucifix believed to have belonged to an abbot in Lezayre. A traditional Manx ballad tells of its discovery in the 1600s.
The final stamp is a gold ring from the 1650s AD. The object was possibly a mourning ring for Lord of Mann, James Stanley, who was beheaded in Bolton in 1651.
The National Treasures stamp collection is available here.