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10 Øre Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company

Issuer Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap
Year 1957
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Shape Rectangular
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Obverse lettering Betalingsmerke for tilgodehavende lønn, utstedt av Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap 10 - Ti øre Merket er ugyldig utenfor Spitsbergen. Ubenyttede betalingsmerker blir ved ihendehaverens avreise fra Spitsbergen å tilbakelevere til kontoret mot beløpets godskrivning i lønnsoppgjør. Selskapets innløsningsplikt bortfaller etter nærmere kunngjøring på Spitsbergen. Styrets formann. Kontorsjef, Spitsbergen.
(Translation: Payment note issued by The Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company for due wages 10 øre The note is invalid outside Spitsbergen. Unused payment notes must be returned upon the holder`s departure from Spitsbergen to the office against the amount being credited on the payroll. The company`s obligation ceases after further announcement on Spitsbergen. Chairman of the board. Office manager, Spitsbergen.)
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Reverse lettering 10 øre
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Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani — the state-backed Norwegian mining company that has operated on Svalbard since 1916 — issued its own internal scrip for use at Longyearbyen, the company town where for decades essentially all commerce was company-controlled. These notes functioned as a closed-currency system: workers were partly paid in scrip redeemable only at the company store, a practice that persisted well into the postwar period and drew occasional criticism as a form of wage capture.

The 1957 series is among the later issues before internal scrip use was gradually wound down as Longyearbyen's economy opened up. Svalbard's unique treaty status — no customs, no VAT, Norwegian sovereignty but international access — made conventional monetary policy irrelevant here anyway.

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