The
monopoly of Norway Post will gradually be abolished through the year
2009. This has opened the way for new local stamp issues. On October
12th 2002, the first stamp with railway interest was issued by "lokal
Posten" in Kongsberg, a town in eastern Norway. The stamp depicts a
mining train on the 800mm (2ft. 7½ in.) gauge pit railway in
the silver mines located 5 miles outside the Kongsberg town centre.
On the stamp can be seen a train exiting from the "Kings' Mine"
running through "The Adit of King Christian 7th" whose monogram can
be seen on the wall; the locomotive was built by Levahn in Oslo. The
Silver Mines were established in 1623 when silver was first
discovered, and with the founding of the town of Kongsberg the
following year, Kongsberg grew during the next 150 years to become
one of Norway's most influential communities. In the heyday of the
mines, silver was as important to the economy of Norway as oil and
gas are today.
