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10 Øre Kings Bay Coal Company
| Issuer | Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S |
|---|---|
| Year | 1947-1964 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Green guilloche underprint covers the entire face, with a large numeral '10' watermark-style vignette dominating the centre. The issuer's name 'KINGS BAY KULL COMP. A/S' is printed in bold uppercase lettering across the upper portion, above a multi-line Norwegian text setting out the terms of redemption valid for the 1956/57 season, with the denomination '10 - Ti øre' centred in bold type. Series letter and serial number fields appear in the upper corners, with two manuscript facsimile signatures at the foot alongside the printed titles 'Styrets formann' and 'Kontorsjef, Spitsbergen'. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain off-white paper with a faint rectangular underprint border framing the face. The denomination '10 ØRE' is printed in large, bold black letterpress type at centre, with a faint ghost underprint of the same characters visible beneath in a lighter tone. |
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| Comments |
Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S operated the Norwegian coal mining concession at Ny-Ålesund on Svalbard, and its scrip functioned as the sole practical currency in a settlement so remote that mainland Norwegian kroner were genuinely inconvenient to use. The company issued denominations in øre and kroner redeemable only at the company store — a classic truck system applied to Arctic conditions.
The KB1r suffix in the reference denotes a recognized variety, likely a color or printing difference within the 1947–1964 production run. Ny-Ålesund's mining operation ended abruptly after a fatal shaft explosion in November 1962, killing 21 men, after which the settlement transitioned toward scientific research — making late-dated scrip from this series particularly short-lived in actual use.