The postage stamps and postal history of the Faroe Islands began in the 1860s with a message exchange system called Skjúts, which was before a regular boat service was established between the islands. Postage is now under the control of Postverk Føroya, the Postage Stamp Department of which has taken over all the work relating to Faroese postage stamps.
Skjúts
Skjúts relied on a Skjútsskaffari (i.e., agent) being appointed in every village with the duty of organising a crew to transport people, letters or parcels from one village to another.
The Skjúts system was actually introduced in around the mid-1860s, with the first Skjúts Act coming into force in 1865. Skjúts charges were laid down by the Løgting, the Faroese Representative Council, for 5 years at a time. There were three types of Skjúts: official, clerical and private. The charges for Skjúts varied, with official being the cheapest and private the most expensive. There was no charge for Skjúts prior to 1865. All healthy males of between 15 and 50 years of age were liable for Skjúts duty: i.e., they could not refuse without incurring a fine. It was never an easy task to transport mail from one island to another across perilous waters where there were often powerful currents.
The Skjúts system existed until around World War I, but was not used as much by then, as the Post Office's rates were relatively low and so represented a reasonable alternative.
First post offices
The first Faroese post office was opened in Tórshavn on 1 March 1870. Others opened at Tvøroyri and Klaksvík on 1 March 1884 and 1 May 1888 respectively. The management of the post at all three was conducted by the local sýslumaður. These were the only Faroes post offices opened in the 19th century, but seven were opened in 1903 and, during the next twenty-five years, post offices were opened in essentially all of the settlements on the Faroes. 15 new offices were opened in 1918 alone.
Wartime stamp shortages
Danish stamps were in use from 1870, usually without any overprint or surcharge, until the first Faroese stamps were issued in 1975.
After the First World War, the Faroese Post Office was forced to use so-called provisional stamps. On 8 December 1918, the Post Office in Tórshavn received a message from Copenhagen about the following increase of postal rates:
inland letters on the Faroes up to 250 grain (15 g) from 5 øre to 7 øre
postcards to Denmark up to 250 grain (15 g) from 4 øre to 7 øre
The increase in postal rates came into force on 1 January 1919.
Due to unreliable shipping connections, the supply of new 7-øre postage stamps failed to reach the Post Office in Tórshavn before 1 January 1919. When it became apparent that the increase in the postal rates would bring about a heavy demand for stamps amounting to 7 øre, and that the Faroese Post Offices' stock of supplementary stamps, 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-øre, would not be sufficient to meet demand, special provisions had to be made. Thus the Post Office in Tórshavn received authorization to bisect the ordinary 4-øre stamps and use the individual halves as 2-øre stamps.
When the stock of 4-øre stamps began to run low, the Post Office was given authorization to overprint the required number of 5-øre stamps and use them as 2-øre stamps. For this purpose a hand stamp was made out of a wooden block bearing the letters "2 ØRE". Part of a chair leg was used as handle, and therefore the stamp was called the "chair leg stamp".
A similar situation arose in 1940–41. Following the German occupation of Denmark, the Faroes were under British administration from 12 April 1940 until the end of the Second World War in 1945. A shortage of Danish stamps was again resolved by the Post Office in Tórshavn overprinting the required number of stamps with a 20-øre surcharge.
The first Faroese stamps
In 1974–75, the Danish postal system began issuing Faroese postage stamps with the caption FØROYAR. The postal system used these stamps in the Faroes for franking mail and sold them to philatelists. The first Faroese postage stamps came on the market on 30 January 1975. From the first day they were available, the interest in Faroese postage stamps has been very extensive abroad. A number of times, postage stamps have been the second-largest source of export revenues for the Faroes.