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1 Krone Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company
| Issuer | Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani A/S (The Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918-1919 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Krone (1875-date) |
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| Obverse description | Green guilloche underprint covers the entire face, with the issuer name 'Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani' rendered in ornate Gothic lettering at centre, flanked by decorative scrollwork. A large watermark-style numeral '1' underprint occupies the centre field, with the denomination cartouche '1 — En krone' printed in bold blackletter script across the middle. Series letter and serial number appear in black-bordered boxes at upper left and upper right respectively, with two manuscript signatures at the lower portion above their printed titles. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain cream-coloured paper with no printed design. A ghost impression of the obverse numeral '1' underprint is visible in show-through, and a faint violet stamp impression appears at lower left. |
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| Comments |
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani was established in 1916 to work the coal seams around Longyearbyen, and almost immediately faced the logistical problem common to all remote industrial settlements: no practical way to pay wages in state currency when the nearest bank was hundreds of miles away across open Arctic water. The company's solution was to issue its own scrip, redeemable only within the company store and settlement — a closed monetary system that kept capital from leaking out of Svalbard entirely.
The SN20r designation indicates a remainder — unissued stock — which survives in proportionally higher numbers than genuinely circulated examples from this 1918–1919 window.