My love letter to ye olde postie … Will he mind if I email it?

1 month ago 19

Opinion

January 10, 2026 — 1.30pm

In a world first, a seal has broken on one of the pillars of public life. Denmark’s PostNord, the Danish equivalent of Australia Post, has ceased delivery of letters, handing over a 400-year tradition to a private company. I had a Kermit the Frog moment when I heard this, wanting to run around yelling “Ahhh!” with my skinny green arms waving erratically above my head.

What if I want to take up letter writing and have a pen pal in Denmark? Can a private letter delivery business be trusted with my handwritten pages as one would expect from a royal, imperial or government postal service? And what is it going to cost? Will I need to sell a kidney to post a letter to Denmark?

That’s so last monarch – a 4¢ stamp with Queen Elizabeth’s portrait in 1971. Today we pay $1.70 for a regular postage stamp.

This news broke at the same time people were lining up at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra, hoping to be the recipient of the first coin minted for 2026. I instantly drew a comparison, wondering how long before another institution, perhaps the Royal Danish Mint, is dropped or outsourced, and everyone has to use cashless payments. How long before we follow?

And then the universe sent me a message. I took my rarely used wallet from my bag and a $1 coin, escaping the cobwebs and rusted-on zip, landed on the floor. I picked it up and marvelled at seeing King Charles’ head embossed on one side. I couldn’t recall seeing coins with the reigning monarch’s image and clearly didn’t pay attention when this one was placed in my purse.

As I catastrophised about writing letters to Denmark, I got a stark reminder that I am clinging on to things I rarely use – coins, for instance.

At least our King has gained some currency.

King Charles has adorned our coins for more than two years, but this being the first time I’d noticed highlighted how infrequently I use cash these days. I couldn’t tell you the last time I put a stamp on a standard envelope either, so much so I nearly fell off my chair when out of curiosity I looked up the cost of a regular stamp: $1.70! Once I would have known the price.

Still, that uneasiness that comes with age and change enveloped me – pun intended. General post offices in capital cities are often architectural marvels and civic hubs, marking the centre of a city. I recall how jarring it was in 2005 when Melbourne’s stunning GPO building on the corner of Elizabeth and Bourke streets became a retail hub. To see that elegant building labelled with hedonistic branding seems wrong.

My thoughts in this regard weren’t just emotionally driven either as I’d always believed a city’s GPO was a landmark like no other, being point zero for maps and directions. Melbourne has now installed a brass survey marker at the site of the old GPO from which all distances from Melbourne are measured – a physical marker to which the past can be moored without risk of being digitised.

Talking extinction, how many music albums, vinyl, cassette or CD, have you bought in the past 10 years? Once these were proudly displayed in a dedicated cabinet or stand next to a multi-stacked hi-fi system. Do you still have a multi-stacked hi-fi?

When did you last buy a watch, the type you might pass on as an heirloom? I am one of the many converts to smartwatches that integrate with their even smarter phone. I was so proud as a kid to get my first wristwatch. My kids, however, had no interest in wearing a watch until they became an appendage of their phones.

And therein lies the culprit. My smartphone can send a letter, make payments, play music, schedule my week, tell me the time, take photos, and pinpoint with accuracy a location five kilometres from the old GPO building in Melbourne. I even occasionally use it to make a phone call.

For someone who won’t leave a room without her smartphone, being aghast at Denmark’s bold, historical move to stop delivering letters via its main postal service was a wee bit dramatic. I buy bags and clothing with features that accommodate my phone. Even my cooking aprons must have front pockets.

I feel for those who still need to go about their days in a more analogue way and I sincerely hope they are accommodated. Also, a shout-out to the philatelists and numismatists, whose collections may not flourish as we move away from printing stamps and minting coins. As for my future Danish pen pal: text me.

Jo Pybus is a freelance writer and host of Alex the Seal podcast.