This is being written on Christmas Day 2006 – obviously there are different ways of celebrating the festive season. But sometimes it is relaxing to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Christmas celebrations and spend some time exploring our stamp hobby.

On Christmas Day 1871 Norway released an entirely new kind of definitive stamp: the crowned posthorn. This is a design which has now been around continuously for 135 years – certainly something for the Guinness Book of Records.

On 3 May 1871 Norway introduced a new postal law and new postal rates. It was felt that there was a need for new stamps (and new designs) to meet the requirements. Post Office officials asked Andreas Friedrich Wilhelm von Hanno to prepare a suitable design for the new stamps. At the time von Hanno was a well known architect who had designed numerous monumental buildings in Kristiania (now Oslo), the Norwegian capital.

Hanno prepared a number of sketches which all included a post horn and a crown. The choice of a post horn was not at all surprising as this was a well known symbol of most European postal services. It is still included in the emblems and trade marks of numerous postal services.

Perhaps Hanno had seen the 1860½ groschen stamp issued by the Kingdom of Hanover in today’s Germany. It’s quite a simple design featuring a post horn and a crown. This particular stamp is quite similar to Hanno’s sketches. The very first posthorn stamp was issued on 25 December 1871 and had a denomination of three skillings. It was printed in red. During the next four years until 1875 there were five additional post horn stamps with denominations in skillings. Thus began a series of definitives which is still being printed today albeit in a slightly different way.

In 1877 Norway started issuing posthorn stamps using the new currency of kroner and øre (oere). However, it is only in recent years that the post horn design has been used with denominations in kroner.

The postal authorities and the general letter writing public must have been delighted with Hanno’s post horn stamps. How else can we explain that the same basic design has been used continuously for the past 135 years?

The Norwegian posthorn stamps were apparently appreciated abroad as well. When Crete released a set of postage due stamps in 1901 they simply plagiarized Hanno’s posthorn design adding Greek inscriptions!

The posthorn stamps have survived the dissolution of Norway’s union with Sweden, two world wars, a long period of German occupation and several currency reforms. Our catalogues indicate that they have now been printed in 11 different major types. There are numerous paper, watermark and other varieties making it a somewhat complicated issue to collect.

From 1962 onwards the Norway’s Banknote Printing Company was responsible for producing the country’s stamps. New types of definitives were produced using engraved designs. However, the posthorn design was retained for the lowest values.

Then when the ten-øre coin was discontinued only the 50-øre posthorn stamp remained. In 1991 it became possible to print stamps in many colours and four posthorn stamps with denominations in kroner were released reflecting the ever higher postal rates. Today there are nine posthorn stamps from 1 krone to 9 kroner on sale. It seems that Post Norway has no intention of ever abandoning the classic posthorn design.

With 11 different major types and numerous printings resulting in a plethora of paper, perforation, watermark and colour varieties the Norwegian post horn issue might be deemed a formidable challenge for most collectors.

Fortunately there is now help available in the form of a 16-page full colour booklet compiled by Norwegian stamp expert Finn Aune. Titled Posthorn-Noekkel, the booklet was published in time for the 135th anniversary of the post horn stamps.

Basically the booklet is a key to understanding the complexities of the various posthorn types. Using blown-up parts of the designs Aune shows how to distinguish between different types and different printing methods.

The many printings often resulted in distinct shades and these are shown in the booklet. As far as I can determine the colour illustrations are of excellent quality and very helpful in assigning the correct shade to a certain stamp.

The only drawback for international collectors is the fact that the minimal text is in Norwegian only. But I suppose anyone genuinely interested in the post horn issues will quickly learn enough Norwegian to use the key correctly.

The booklet can be ordered from Skanfil AS, probably Norway’s biggest stamp firm. For more information on price contact the firm at Boks 2030, NO-5504 Haugesund, Norway. There is also an email address – skanfil@skanfil.no

The booklet will probably cost some $20 which might seem on the high side for a 16-page publication. However the key will definitely help collectors classify their posthorn stamps with considerable ease which in itself is worth a lot of money.

Many collectors (including this writer) are fascinated by very long sets of stamps with basically the same design. It’s usually only the denomination and the colour which are different. A large band of British collectors specialize in the many definitive stamps featuring the Machin portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. I suppose they find it interesting to follow the development of the design from printing to printing with the resulting colour, paper, perforation and watermark changes.