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10 Øre Bear Island
| Issuer | Bjørnøen A.S. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920-1921 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper (Light brown) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Betalingsmerke utstedt av BJØRNØEN A.S. Mot dette betalingsmerke, som er utstedt for tilgodehavende løn, utleverer BJØRNØEN A.S. til ihændehaveren varer for et beløp av 10 øre TI ØRE Ubenyttede betalingsmerker blir ved ihændeha- verens avreise fra Bjørnøen i sæsonen 1920-21 at tilbakelevere til kontoret mot beløpets god- skrivning i opgjøret. Merket er ugyldig uten- for Bjørnøen og efter sæsonens slut. DISPONENT KONTORCHEF, BJØRNØEN. (Translation: Payment note issued by Bear Island LLC Against this payment note, which is issued for outstanding wages, Bear Island LLC delivers to the bearer good for an amount of 10 øre. Unused payment notes should when the bearer departs from Bear Island in the season 1920/21 be returned to the office against credit of the amount in the settlement. The note is invalid outside Bear Island and after the end of the season. Manager Office manager, Bear Island.) |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted surface in light cream paper, with faint show-through of the obverse letterpress text visible. |
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| Comments |
Bjørnøen A/S was a Norwegian mining company that held a concession on Bear Island — the remote Norwegian archipelago territory in the Barents Sea — and issued its own scrip for use by workers on the island who had no access to conventional banking or retail. These emergency labor camp tokens in paper form were a practical necessity, not a monetary experiment; the island had no postal savings, no bank branch, and supply ships arrived infrequently.
The 1920–1921 dating places this issue in the period immediately following the post-WWI sovereignty disputes over Svalbard, before the 1920 Spitsbergen Treaty formally assigned the archipelago to Norway. Bear Island was included under that treaty.