A unique 20 öre stamp

The 20 öre green blue/orange Posthorn from 1965 is a beautiful stamp. It is also pretty unique in some ways. First of all it was the first Swedish two-coloured steel engraved stamp. It was the new three-tone steel-engraving rotary press from Goebel AG in Germany delivered at the end of 1964 that made this possible. It also was unique in the way that it has the year of issue printed between the initials of the artist and the engraver. That was a mistake actually. Beginning  in 1963 the year-of-issue was printed on non-definitive stamps, i.e. commemorative stamps. The Posthorn is the only definitive stamp that has the year printed. The stamp to the left on the parcel address card below is the 20 öre Posthorn.

Domestic Parcel 6 kg; fee: 7 kr.
1965, 17 May. 20 öre green blue/orange Posthorn. Qty: 28,200,000.
1967, 16 October. 30 öre red-orange/blue Outer Archipelago of Stockholm. Qty: 184,000,000.
1967, 12 January. 2.80 kr orange-red Three Crowns. Qty: 15,000,000.
1967, 15 February. 3.70 kr violet The Lion Fortress. Qty: 16,000,000.

This parcel address card makes me a little bit excited. It displays very well the changes in Swedish stamp design that occurred in the mid sixties. I think that maybe the 20 öre Posthorn was meant to be the first in a series of definitive stamps, just like the New Numeral Type it was intended to replace. Considering the design it would have been well suited for that, adding new denominations over time. That did not happen. The thing that happened was that Swedish Post got a new Director-General in 1965, the distinguished civil servant Mr. Nils Hörjel. The task given by the Swedish Government was to rapidly modernize the Swedish Post and make it more effective and profitable. He did and he also on the fly modernized the conservative Swedish stamp issuing policy.

Instead the Posthorn became the first of a long line of single series definitive stamps. Before Mr. Hörjel the definitive series had traditional motifs like the king, the denomination value itself or Swedish symbols. The definitive series at the time consisted of Gustaf VI Adolf type III, Three Crowns, Rock Carvings and New Numeral Type. They used to be stretched over decades and consisted of many stamps (of the same motif) and of course of many different denominations. No more from now on. Mr. Hörjel increased the number of stamps issued, both commemorative and definitive ones, and he granted single stamps series of definitive stamps. One effect was that the definitive stamp series got a much shorter lifespan and at the end there were more stamps to collect.


The next stamp is the 30 öre Outer Archipelago of Stockholm and belongs to the series called Definitive Stamps, a series of  stamps with different motifs and different denomination. There were four motifs in that series from 1967. If the old policy would have still been in place that stamp would maybe rather have been a 30 öre Posthorn.


The third stamp from the left is the 2.80 kr Three Crowns and represent the old policy. The Three Crowns was the longest running stamp series with 34 stamps in almost 30 years. The 2.80 kr was the next to the last issue of the Three Crowns.


Finally to the right the 3.70 kr Lion Fortress. One of these new stamps representing the big change in stamp issuing policy. A single definitive stamp with a unique motif. It was aimed for for covering the rate for domestic parcels, 1 - 3 kg, it did that well until January 1969 when it was discontinued. If the old policy would have still been in place that stamp would instead maybe have been a 3.70 kr Three Crowns. Who knows?

A very local parcel

In August 1971 the postal rate for a Swedish domestic parcel weighing up to 1 kg was 3 kr 80 öre. At this time there was no specific definitive stamp with that denomination as it use to be in the sixties. The postal rates were raised much more frequently from the end of that decade and a specific stamp for parcels up to 1 kg would have been short lived. The 3 kr 80 öre rate was effective just a mere nine months.

But there was the 3 kr green-blue Seal of Duke Erik Magnusson 1306 from April 1970 and combined with the 80 öre blue/brown The Waxholm boat from January 1971 they would sum up to 3 kr 80 öre. Pretty convenient, but not at the Post Office Kungälv 1. They used one 30 öre red-orange/blue Outer archipelago of Stockholm at the front and five 70 öre red-lilac Gustaf VI Adolf type III at the back. The first one is a complimentary denomination but the 70 öre was aimed for international letters first weigh class (- 20 g). That worked too.

Domestic parcel card  - 1 kg; fee: 3 kr 80 öre.
1967, 16 October, 30 öre red-orange/blue Outer archipelago of Stockholm. Qty: 184,000,000
1967, 16 June, 70 öre red-lilac Gustaf VI Adolf type III. Qty: 26,700,000

The parcel contained blue prints and it was meant for Mrs. Karlsson living in Ytterby. Ytterby is situated about 4 km outside of Kungälv. The address of the Post Office Kungälv 1 was actually Ytterby Road (Ytterbyvägen) the road that went to Ytterby. Most likely the old road to Ytterby.

Yesterday . . .

The entrance to the Post Office Kungälv 1 where the parcel was sent from. (Photo: Swedish Post Museum - Postmuséet).

... today according to Google Street

Here is what is left of the Post Office Kungälv 1.

New and old Cash On Delivery

This post is about two C.O.D. parcel address cards. The first one is of an older version. The parcel was handed over to the Post Office Bromma 19 in Nockeby a suburb of Stockholm on Monday 2 December 1968. The odd thing is that they used a card designed in January 1939 [more precisely form 398 b.] almost thirty years old by that time. Nockeby was built in the 30s and maybe this card was from the original stock from the opening of the Post Office?

Cash On Delivery parcel 2 kg fee: 3.70 kr + C.O.D fee 0.70 kr + unknown fee 1.20 kr
1958, 17 September. 5 kr blue Royal Palace, Stockholm II. Qty: 16,500,000 (2-sided perforation)
1967, 16 October, 30 öre red-orange/blue Outer archipelago of Stockholm. Qty: 184,000,000

The total sum paid was 5.60 kr. The fee for a parcel weighing up to 3 kg was 3.70 kr in 1968 and the C.O.D. fee was 0.70 kr. That makes 4.40 kr but the sum is 1.20 kr more. My guess is that this parcel was bulky since that fee was an extra 50%, which is the missing 1,20 kr. Maybe the bulky lable came off or they just forgot to label. Anyways the stamp 5 kr blue Royal Palace Stockholm II was first issued in 1941 but then printed on panes. The 2-sided perforated version in coils actually on the card arrived not until 1958. The 30 öre red-orange/blue Outer archipelago of Stockholm single use was for printed matter, but it was a new kind of definitive stamps. One can say that it replaced the New Numeral Type series from the fifties when it came in 1967.  The 30 öre stamps belonged to a series called just Definitive Stamps. The denominations of the series were 5 öre, 10 öre, 30 öre and 90 öre. Read more about the Definitive Stamps series - here.

The content of the parcel were boots and they were bound for the shop called The Shoe Company (Skokompaniet) on King's Street (Kungsgatan) downtown Stockholm. The parcel was picked up the next day. We can also note that the sender filled in the correct postal code 111 22. Postal codes were a novelty for 1968 and introduced in May.


The second C.O.D. parcel address cards was sent more than a year earlier, on Wednesday 25 October 1967, but it looks much more modern. The card came in 1964 and was called form 2010.5. In this case the card has to be printed 1965 or later beacuse the card has the new logotype that was introduced the same year. The parcel was sent from the town Linköping to the village Tandsbyn in the province of Jämtland. The weight was 3 kg and the fee was in this case the same as above, 3.70 kr, the C.O.D. fee was 70 öre totaling 4.40 kr. It was sent from Post Office Linköping 1 situated in a magnificent building at 18 - 20 St. Lars Street (S:t Larsgatan 18 -20).

C.O.D. parcel 3 kg fee 3.70 kr + C.O.D. fee 0.70 kr
1967, 15 February, 3.70 kr violet the Lion Fortress. Qty: 16,000,000
1957, 1 June. 70 öre orange Rock Carvings type II. Qty: 10,900,000

In this case it is the 3.70 kr violet the Lion Fortress that is new, issued in February 1967. The 70 öre orange Rock Carvings is a definitive stamp of an older generation where the first stamp in that series was issued in 1954 as a complement to the long running Three Crown series. In the fifties the Rock Carving series felt fresh and it stayed around at least as long as in the beginning of the 70s. On this card both stamps are a nice couple of Swedish definitive stamps.

Here is where the Post Office Bromma 19 used to be. (Google)

. . .  and here is where you could find the Post Office Linköping 1. (Google)

Where are the places?
Nockeby is situated 8 km W of Stockholm
Tandsbyn is situated 446 km NW of Stockholm.
Linköping is situated 174 km SW of Stockholm.