There have been a total of five documented seal presses in Norway since 1814.
National Seal Press 1 The first Norwegian national seal press after the dissolution of the Danish-Norwegian kingdom on 14 January 1814 was put into use sometime after 2 March 1814.
National Seal Press 2 The Royal Seal Press 2 is the one that has been used the longest. It was purchased in London in the summer of 1840 for 35 specidals and 62 shillings. It was Commander Captain Ole W. Erichsen who was commissioned to purchase the national seal press 2, since he was in England in the summer of 1840 to have a steam engine installed in the navy's new ship
Nordcap The 1840 press may have been stored in the basement of the Government Building after it was replaced, probably in late 1939, after nearly 100 years of use. Its whereabouts are unknown today.
National Seal Press 3 The Royal Seal Press 3 was ordered in Berlin by the engraver and medalist firm H. Rui at Underhaugsveien 9 in late February 1939, and was probably put into use late that year. The reason was that the national coat of arms itself had been redesigned in 1937 by the National Archives' heraldist
Hallvard Trætteberg, so that there was now a need for a new version of
King Haakon VII's national seal. The same Trætteberg had late in 1937 submitted a draft for a new national seal with a diameter of 70 cm, which the national seal press 2 could not handle. After King Haakon and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had approved Trætteberg's draft for a new national seal in late 1938, the State Secretariat ordered a new national seal stamp and a new national seal press from engraver and medallist H. Rui in early January 1939. When the Prime Minister's Office acquired National Seal Press 4, probably sometime in the 1960s, Press 3 was put into storage in the basement of Block Y. It is not known where this press is now located.
National Seal Press 4 The Royal Seal Press 4 was considerably simpler than the Royal Seal Press 3, with a lever arm and no screw. It was not depicted until it was taken out of service in the early 1990s, in favor of the electric press – the Royal Seal Press 5 – which is still in use. National Seal Press 4 was also placed in storage in the basement of Block Y. Its current location is unknown.
National Seal Press 5 Royal Seal Press 5, the first to be electrically powered, in the Prime Minister's Office premises at
Akershus Fortress ==References==