The emergence of the Norwegian Postal Service.

So here we have the Norwegian krone, nominal - 5. The year of issue of this coin is 1997, Mint: Kongsberg, Norway. Total circulation – 1.742.073. The issue of the coin coincides with 350th anniversary of the Norwegian Postal Service.

Christian IV granted the postal concession for Norway to Henrik Morian on 17 January 1647 and Morian became the first Norwegian postmaster, followed by his wife Anna who was postmaster from 1648 to 1653.

The first route was by sea from Christiania to Copenhagen. Other sea routes, including the ones to Kristiansand, Starvanger, Bergen, and Trondheim followed. Originally, all mail was consolidated in Christiania before being sent out. The sea routes utilized merchant shipping, but land routes were slower to develop, with the post being passed from farmstead to farmstead.

Incentives for postal-route farmers included exemptions from county road work and military service, and in some cases reduction in taxes. The postal routes delivered the mail to the government offices, and there was no local mail delivery, so gradually private local posts grew up in the larger cities and towns.