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| Issuer | Arktikugol Trust (USSR Ministry of Coal Industry) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1979 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain light ground with a faint repeated-text underprint filling the entire field and a ghost numeral 10 watermark-style device at centre. Two lines of Cyrillic text in the upper portion state that the coupon will not be replaced if lost, and a further line below advises that unused coupons must be returned to the enterprise cashier. |
| Reverse lettering | ПРИ УТЕРЕ НЕ ВОЗОБНОВЛЯЕТСЯ НЕИСПОЛЬЗОВАННЫЕ ТАЛОНЫ ПОДЛЕЖАТ ВОЗВРАТУ В КАССУ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ |
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| Comments |
Arktikugol Trust operated the Soviet coal mining settlements on Svalbard — Barentsburg and Pyramiden — under a bilateral arrangement with Norway that permitted continued Soviet presence on the archipelago under the 1920 Svalbard Treaty. Because Norwegian kroner circulated on the island yet hard currency couldn't freely move in and out of the Soviet economy, the Trust issued its own scrip for use exclusively within its settlements. Workers were paid partly in these coupons, redeemable only at the company store.
The 1979 series replaced an earlier set of Arktikugol notes, and the 10-rouble denomination was the highest value issued. Pyramiden was abandoned in 1998 with virtually no notice, leaving behind canteen stock, personal belongings — and presumably unspent scrip.