Posthorn

Worthy of celebration
In 1872, probably very few people knew of the event that took place in the history of philately that year. Now we know. Norway's posthorn stamps would eventually become the world’s oldest, unbroken series of stamps. The talented German-Norwegian architect Wilhelm von Hanno was commissioned to produce a design for the stamps. He was a well-known architect who designed the Trinity and Grønland churches, a school, fire station and police station in Oslo. He was also a sculptor and taught drawing to young students, one of whom was Theodor Kittelsen. Von Hanno worked with Heinrich Ernst Schirmer on a design for the new Parliament building. Although it won the competition in 1857, their proposal was later rejected.

In the first few years after 1872, the posthorn stamps had denominations in Skilling. Then in 1877, Norway started to issue them with denominations in Øre. There have been numerous different printers, printing techniques and designers over the years. The posthorn stamps were given a veritable facelift in 2001 by the stamp artists Sverre Morken and Enzo Finger. They combined the original motif of the stamp with modern, five- colour offset production. The new stamps were issued in all the colours of the rainbow with a metallic gold crown and horn and silver under the wings, creating a series that is simultaneously on-trend and classic – a worthy 150-year-old world record holder!