The ATMs in Greenland (2018-2019)

Farewell to the aCon - Post-Selv postal kiosks in Greenland

Following on from the decommissioning of the aCon postal kiosks in Denmark, in July 2015 (see article, also published in VARIABLE 37), only Greenland and the Faroe Islands postal administrations continued using Post-Selv kiosks (apart from Israel which uses another kiosk model/type from the same company).

The significant decrease in the use of these postal kiosks in recent years, together with the expected increase in maintenance costs, led Post Greenland to permanently withdraw the 17 nassitsivik kiosks in service within its postal premises. The decommissioning took place on September 19th 2018, just 9 years after the installation of the first kiosk in the Nuuk Tele-Post Center (left image), on September 17th 2009 (see article, also published in VARIABLE 14).

However, variable value stamps can still be obtained from over 130 aCon desktop printers used by companies throughout the country, and also from the philatelic service.

2018. Greenlandic landscapes (4th series)

In 2018, Post Greenland - Filatelia, Post Greenland's philatelic department, released the fourth series of designs dedicated to the amazing Greenland landscape.

The earlier series were issued in 2014 (see article, also published in VARIABLE 32), 2016 (article and VARIABLE 43), and 2017 (article and VARIABLE 47).

		This series shows four new photographic images; a view of the mountain landscape in Nanortalik with the national flower (Niviarsiaq) in the foreground, an icefjord in East Greenland, a sunset view of the capital Nuuk during the snowy winter, and the northern lights in Narsaq. With no postal kiosks in service, the series could however, be obtained from October 22nd 2018, from the aCon desktop printers, and from November 3rd from the new DKU equipment (next section), both using the same rolls of labels.

For the first time in Greenland, the variable value series of stamps used rolls of thermal self-adhesive labels, with the four consecutive designs, manufactured by Walsall Security printers Ltd. Label size is a little bit larger than previously at 56 x 25 mm. (instead of 55 x 22.50 mm.). The imprint is a high quality digital printing, with a very attractive glossy finish to the image area. In addition, unlike the earlier series, the labels come fixed on a film or transparent backing paper, and have perforations around all four edges.

The new Post Greenland's DKU

In 2018, following in the footsteps of Posta Stamps, Post Greenland decided to acquire a new DKU (Desktop Kiosk Unit); a counter unit for the printing of variable value stamps developed by the English company Intelligent AR. The new equipment was present at the Frimærke, Brev & Postkort Messe 2018, the major annual philatelic event in the Nordic countries.

		The fair was held in the halls of the Scandic Hotel, in central Copenhagen, during the weekend of November 3rd and 4th. In addition to an important philatelic exhibition, the event brought together some thirty specialized dealers and the philatelic services of Denmark, Greenland and Faroe Islands.

The new DKU, with code GL01, was installed on the Post Greenland stand. The equipment is made up of a monitor with touch screen and a small tower, customized with the brand color and logo of the postal administration. This unit includes a small computer and two direct thermal printers, initially assigned to the printing of stamps and receipts. A barcode reader enables the purchase of philatelic products.

For the printing of variable value stamps, the machine used rolls of labels from the fourth series of Greenlandic Landscapes released only a few days previously.

The main menu of the DKU GL01 equipment, installed at Copenhagen, offered the purchase of stamps with four programmed values; 14.00, 15.00, 16.00 and 17.00 DKK, either as singles or as sets or strips. Surprisingly, one of the values -15.00 DKK- did not correspond to any of the current tariffs in Greenland (see table below), but to the expected rate of priority domestic mail in 2019 (...).

The stamps issued in Copenhagen include the face value and the 'Copenhagen 2018' special imprint. At the bottom of the label, is found the usual code printed on all stamps issued by the IAR equipment, consisting of four blocks. All stamps issued during the fair have a code that begins with DNDK18 (D identifies the DKU equipment, and N, DK and 18 for the month, country and year of issue), there follows the equipment code, GL01, followed by the session and stamp number corresponding to that particular transaction.

Unlike other countries, the design of labels for variable value stamps in Greenland reserves just a small area to the right of the design for the printing of face values and other information. The DKU system prints more information on the stamps than the aCon printers, so the font printing is smaller and even the long code at the bottom is split up into three lines of text.

In addition to single values, the machine vended strips of four stamps with the basic tariff for domestic priority mail ('Local Strip'), sets with the four programmed values ('Collectors Strip'), and sets with all the designs and programmed values ('Collectors Set'), each with its corresponding receipt.


First day cover of the new DKU system, with the four stamps of the basic set or 'Collectors Strip', and detail of the pictorial postmark for the Copenhagen fair, produced by Post Greenland - Filatelia.

2019. The DKU unit in Greenland

After its launch at Copenhagen's Frimærke, Brev & Postkort Messe 2018 (see article, also published in VARIABLE 51), the new Post Greenland's DKU GL01 desktop kiosk was installed, in January 2019, at the premises of the philatelic service in Tasiilaq, Greenland (images).
Various system modifications were programmed during the following weeks including the option enabling the kiosk to be used either as a back office equipment (without issuing receipts) or for public use (for example, at philatelic events). New values were also programmed as per the current postal rates, as well as a new permanent imprint.

From April 4th 2019, the machine issued variable value stamps on the fourth series of Greenlandic Landscapes designs (article and VARIABLE 51) with the new 'Greenland Post' imprint.
The code at the bottom of the stamps begins with D4GL19 (D identifies the DKU equipment, and 4, GL and 19 for the month, country and year of issue), there follows the equipment code, GL01, followed by the session and stamp number.

			The counter unit issued stamps with four programmed values; 15.00, 17.00, 25.00 and 30.00 DKK, corresponding to the main current domestic and international priority mail rates in the first two weight steps (see table below). As with other IAR kiosks, these values can be obtained either as single stamps or in strips of four with the domestic mail tariff ('Local strip' - left column), as sets of four stamps with the four programmed values ('Collectors strip' - right column) and as full sets of 16 stamps with the four designs and the four programmed values ('Collectors set').

2019. Polar bears

The 2019 series is dedicated to one of the few native land mammals in Greenland, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus). This animal has been the subject of this country's many philatelic issues including designs of the variable value stamps series issued in 2011 dedicated to the fauna of Greenland (see article and VARIABLE 22).

		The new series consists of four beautiful photographic images. Like the previous series, the rolls of self-adhesive thermal labels were manufactured by Walsall Security printers Ltd. The labels come fixed on a transparent release liner, and the imprint is a high quality digital printing, with a very attractive glossy finish to the image area.

		The new series could be obtained, from October 21st 2019, printed on aCon desktop printers (left image and first day cover below), and also from November 9th also with the GL01 DKU counter unit (next section), both using the same rolls of labels.

Post Greenland at the Copenhagen's fair

In 2019, Post Greenland also had a stand at the Frimærke, Brev & Postkort Messe, the major annual philatelic event in the Nordic countries.

		The fair was held over the weekend of November 9th and 10th with the participation of about twenty dealers and the philatelic services of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. After several years of being held in the halls of a hotel in central Copenhagen, in 2019 this fair moved to Valbyhallen, a multi-purpose hall west of the city.

Related to our field of study, Post Greenland had three desktop stamp printing machines installed on its stand; the GL01 DKU unit and two aCon printers ... all 'guarded' by the subject of the new series!

New to the fair, and like the previous year, the stamps printed in Copenhagen with the GL01 system include the face value and the 'Copenhagen 2019' special imprint.

However, unlike the previous year, only the special imprint on the stamps was modified during the fair. No special heading was included in the receipts, which showed the details of Greenland Post (images below). In addition the country code, in the bottom code of the stamp remained as Greenland DNGL19 and not corrected to Denmark DNDK19.

In a new change to the programmed values and more sensible from a philatelic point of view, the DKU unit only allowed the printing of variable value stamps with three values, 11.00, 15.00 and 17.00 DKK, corresponding to the four current basic mail tariffs for economic and priority domestic mail, and international priority mail, respectively (see table below).

However, with a common value for two of the postal rates (Europe and Rest of the world), the four-value sets or 'Collectors strips' include two stamps with the value 17.00 DKK.


First day cover of the new series printed with the DKU system, with the four stamps of the basic set or 'Collectors Strip', and detail of the pictorial postmark for the Copenhagen fair.

After the Copenhagen fair, the DKU GL01 machine was moved to the Nordfrim A/S headquarters in Otterup, Denmark, which is home to the new POST Greenland Filatelia customer service center. From December 2019, the 'Polar Bears' series was also available with the 'Greenland Post' permanent imprint.

2020. The 'Greenlandic sled dog puppies' series

In 2020 following on from the 2019 series depicting great photographs of polar bears (see article, published in VARIABLE 55), Post Greenland issued a new series dedicated to animals native to the country, the Greenland dog.

These dogs are descendants of the Arctic wolf and are one of the oldest breeds of dog. They have been traditionally used in the Nordic regions by the Eskimos or Inuits as sled draft animals. In fact, a study published in mid-2020 revealed that sled dogs had been in use some 9,500 earlier.

Like the 2019 series, the new series consists of four photographic images, in this case of sled dog puppies. The rolls of self-adhesive thermal labels were manufactured by Walsall Security printers Ltd. The labels come fixed on a transparent release liner, and the imprint is a high quality digital printing, with a very attractive glossy finish to the image area.

		The series was available, from November 6th 2020, printed on aCon desktop printers (left image and first day cover below), and also from the GL01 DKU counter unit (next section), both using the same rolls of labels but with very different impressions. The aCon printers in Greenland are able to print stamps with any face value between 0.25 and 99.75 DKK, in steps of 0.25 DKK, although the philatelic department does not sell stamps with a face value below the current domestic mail rate.

For its part, the DKU GL01 unit prints variable value stamps with four values only, 11.00, 15.00 and 17.00 DKK, corresponding to the current basic mail tariffs for economy and priority domestic mail, and priority mail to European countries and the rest of the world, respectively (see table below).

In previous years, this machine had been temporarily installed at the Post Greenland booth at Frimærke, Brev & Postkort Messe, in Denmark, where it was programmed with a special imprint. In 2020, with the cancellation of the exhibition due to the pandemic, the counter unit issued stamps of this series with the 'Greenland Post' permanent imprint only.

The four values are available either as single stamps or in strips of four with the domestic priority mail tariff ('Local strip'), as sets with the four values ('Collectors strip' - right strip and receipt) and as full sets of 16 stamps with all the designs and programmed values ('Collectors set').

Although the DKU unit is permanently installed in the Nordfrim A/S headquarters in Otterup, Denmark, (the POST Greenland Filatelia customer service center) both the country code at the bottom of the stamps (DNGL20), and the address on receipts, refer to Greenland Post in Nuuk Greenland.

Unlike 'traditional' stamps, Post Greenland does not produce special first day covers or postmarks for this type of issue.
First day cover with the four stamps of the basic set or 'Collectors Strip' printed with the DKU system.

The basic postal tariffs in Greenland (2009 - ...)

Standard letters up to 20 g.	Greenland		Europe		Rest of the world
Standard letters up to 20 g.	B economy	A priority	B economy	A priority	B economy	A priority
19.1.2009	6,00 DKK	6,25 DKK	7,00 DKK	8,00 DKK	8,00 DKK	9,00 DKK
18.1.2010	6,50 DKK	7,00 DKK	7,50 DKK	8,50 DKK	8,50 DKK	9,50 DKK
17.1.2011	7,00 DKK	7,50 DKK	8,00 DKK	9,00 DKK	9,00 DKK	10,00 DKK
16.1.2012	7,50 DKK	8,00 DKK	8,50 DKK	9,50 DKK	9,50 DKK	10,50 DKK
14.1.2013	8,50 DKK	9,00 DKK	9,50 DKK	10,50 DKK	10,50 DKK	11,50 DKK
20.1.2014	9,00 DKK	10,00 DKK	10,00 DKK	11,50 DKK	11,50 DKK	13,00 DKK
2015	9,00 DKK	11,00 DKK	10,00 DKK	12,50 DKK	11,50 DKK	13,00 DKK
18.1.2016	10,50 DKK	12,00 DKK	11,50 DKK	13,50 DKK	13,00 DKK	15,00 DKK
					A - Priority
23.1.2017	10,50 DKK	13,00 DKK	11,50 DKK	15,00 DKK	16,00 DKK
22.1.2018	11,00 DKK	14,00 DKK	12,00 DKK	16,00 DKK	17,00 DKK

	Greenland			Europe		Rest of the world
	B economy 20g	A priority 20g	A priority 100g	A priority 20g	A priority 100g	A priority 20g	A priority 100g
21.1.2019	11,00 DKK	15,00 DKK	25,00 DKK	17,00 DKK	30,00 DKK	17,00 DKK	59,00 DKK
20.1.2020	11,00 DKK	16,00 DKK	26,50 DKK	18,00 DKK	32,00 DKK	25,00 DKK	59,00 DKK

The Greenland currency is the Danish kroner (DKK). The postal tariffs that make up the annual sets are marked in bold.