1 Kopeck

Arktikugol — the Soviet state trust that ran coal mining on Svalbard — issued its own scrip currency for use at the company settlement of Barentsburg, a practice rooted in practical necessity: Norwegian krone circulated on the archipelago under the terms of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, but the Soviets had no interest in paying their workers in foreign exchange. These coupons served as the internal spending medium, redeemable only at the company store.

The 1979 series replaced earlier issues as the settlement population stabilized around several hundred miners. Scrip from Barentsburg turns up rarely in Western collections — it had no reason to leave the island.