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10 Øre Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company
| Issuer | Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917-1918 |
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| Value | 10 Øre |
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| Obverse description | Plain cream paper note printed entirely in black letterpress with no pictorial vignette. The issuer's name, Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani, is set in ornate blackletter script within scrollwork borders at centre, above the denomination '10 – Ti øre' enclosed in a decorative oval cartouche. Series and number boxes appear in the upper corners, with a facsimile signature of the chairman lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Betalingsmerke utstedt av Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap Mot dette betalingsmerke, som er utstedt for tilgodehavende løn, utleverer Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani, til ihændehaveren varer for et -beløp av 10 - Ti øre Ubenyttende betalingsmerker blir ved ihændehaverens avreise fra Spitsbergen i sæsonen 1917/18 at tilbakelevere til kontoret mot beløpets godskrivning i opgjøret. Merket er ugyldig utenfor Spitsbergen og efter sæsonens avslutning. Styrets formand. Kontordjef, Spitsbergen. |
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| Comments |
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani — commonly known as Store Norske — operated the coal mines at Longyearbyen under a company scrip system that functioned as the only practical currency on Svalbard. The archipelago sat outside Norway's formal monetary jurisdiction, and shipping delays made maintaining a supply of state currency impractical. Company scrip solved the problem by keeping wages in circulation within the settlement, where the company also controlled the only shops.
The 1917–1918 dating places this note squarely in the wartime period when coal demand spiked and the workforce expanded rapidly. Store Norske had only acquired the American-founded Arctic Coal Company's Longyearbyen operations in 1916, making these among the earliest scrip issues under Norwegian corporate ownership.