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1 Krone Kings Bay Coal Company
| Issuer | Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947-1964 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | NP#KB4, KB4r |
| Obverse description | Light green guilloche underprint covers the entire face, with large ghost numerals and letters forming a latent watermark-style background pattern. The issuer's name KINGS BAY KULL COMP. A/S is set in bold uppercase letterpress across the centre, above the large denomination inscription '1 - En krone'. Series letter 'H' appears at upper left, with a hand-stamped serial number in a black panel at upper right, and a manuscript signature above the printed titles 'Styrets formann' and 'Kontorsjef, Spitsbergen' at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 1 KR. |
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| Comments |
Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S operated the Norwegian coal mining concession at Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, and like most remote company-town operations, it ran its own scrip economy entirely separate from mainland Norwegian currency. These krone-denominated tokens of exchange were valid only within the settlement — at the company store, the canteen, and nowhere else. Workers were partly paid in scrip, a system that kept wages circulating back to the company.
The suffix "r" in the KB4r reference designates a replacement note, which is unusual for a minor industrial scrip issue of this scale and hints at more organized printing practices than the operation's remoteness might suggest. Ny-Ålesund's mining activities were permanently halted after a catastrophic explosion in 1962 killed 21 men — the worst accident in Norwegian Arctic history.