Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Krone Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company
| Issuer | Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938-1942 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Krone (1875-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed on green-tinted paper, the obverse carries the issuer's name "Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap" in bold letterpress across the centre, with a large underprint numeral "1" visible behind the text block. The series letter and serial number appear in the upper corners, flanking the title "Betalingsmerke," while the denomination "1 – En krone" is set in a large display typeface at mid-field. Two manuscript signatures appear at the foot above the printed titles "Styrets formann" and "Kontorsjef, Spitsbergen." |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed on uncoloured paper with a faint guilloche-style circular underprint at centre. The denomination "1 Kr." is rendered in a single large, bold serif display typeface occupying nearly the entire face, with fine internal cross-hatching giving the characters a three-dimensional engraved appearance. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani ran the mining settlement at Longyearbyen as a near-total company town, and this token note functioned as the internal currency for workers who had limited means — and limited reason — to spend money anywhere else on the archipelago. Svalbard's peculiar legal status under the 1920 Paris Treaty made it Norwegian territory but left it outside the customs area, which created a monetary grey zone that company scrip filled without any central bank involvement.
The 1938–1942 date range spans the German occupation of Norway proper, though Svalbard itself was evacuated in 1941 and the mining population temporarily removed. Whether notes from the later part of that range saw meaningful circulation before evacuation is genuinely uncertain.