Plain and simple

2.30 kr brown fulfilling its purpose

The Three Crowns series was originally designed to have single stamps for the most common postal rates for domestic parcels and Cash On Delivery domestic parcels. The first stamps in the series released in 1939 covered parcels up to 1 kg, 1 - 2 kg and 2 - 3 kg for those postal rates. There was also a complementary denomination, the 1 kr orange Three Crowns, which could be used for heavier parcels.

The domestic parcel card below was sent on Friday March 25 1966, almost 26 years after the first issue of the Three Crown series and it was still doing its job. A single 2.30 kr dark brown Three Crowns was all that was required.

Domestic parcel address card  - 1 kg fee: 2.30 kr
1965, 24 September. 2.30 kr  dark brown Three Crowns. Qty: 9,600,000

However, things had already started to change. The new postal rates for parcels effective from July 1965 was like this: [all amounts are in öre, 100 öre = 1 krona]

- 1 kg	1 - 3 kg	3 - 5 kg	5 - 7 kg	10 kg	15 kg	20 kg
230	300	350	550	800	1100	1400

The Three Crown series was for the first time no longer covering the three most common parcels rates with a single stamp since the highest denomination in the series was the 3 kr blue Three Crown issued in 1964. Instead the rate for  parcels 3 - 5 kg now was covered by the new 3.50 kr Ale's Stones. It was a single definitive stamp, no more long definitive series issued over decades. That was a novelty in 1965.

The incorporated company Swedish Mullard (Svenska Mullard AB) sent some vacuum tubes to the Sahlgrenska Hospital, Oncology Department, in Gothenburg (Göteborg). Swedish Mullard was a subsidiary to Mullard Ltd. which originally was an English firm that pioneered in producing high quality vacuum tubes. They also pretty early teamed up with Dutch Philips. Mullard is not anymore, there last production facility closed down in the early eighties.

First the parcel arrived at the Post Office Göteborg 7 at 41 Linné Street (Linnégatan 41) and then it went to the Post Office at the hospital, Göteborg 33.

Some other single uses for the 2.30 kr Three Crowns at the time were domestic letter 500 - 1,000 g or domestic registered letter with advice of receipt 20 - 125 g.


Where are the places:
Gothenburg (Göteborg) is Sweden's second largest city and it is situated 397 km SW of Stockholm.
The distance by road is 470 km between Stockholm and Gothenburg.