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100 Kroner Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company
| Issuer | Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap |
|---|---|
| Year | 1973 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Krone (1875-date) |
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| Obverse description | Yellow note with a dense letterpress underprint of repeating text 'STORENORSKESPITSBERGENKULKOMPANI' running horizontally across the entire field. The upper portion carries the issuer's name in bold typography, with the denomination '100 HUNDRE KRONER 100' in large central letters. Conditions of use are printed in Norwegian below the denomination, and two manuscript signatures appear at the lower portion, attributed to the Chairman of the Board and the Office Manager, Spitsbergen, with series designation 'Serie Qq (1973)' and serial number at upper left and right respectively. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in green on white paper, covered edge to edge with rows of repeating microtext 'STORENORSKESPITSBERGENKULKOMPANI' in letterpress. The large numeral '100' is formed in negative relief at the centre by an interruption in the repeating text pattern, creating a subtle but effective security underprint effect. |
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| Comments |
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani — the state-controlled Norwegian coal mining operator on Svalbard — issued scrip currency for use exclusively within its company settlements at Longyearbyen and Svea. These notes functioned as a parallel monetary system in an Arctic archipelago where Norwegian sovereignty was perpetually complicated by the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, which granted all signatory nations equal rights to economic activity there. Soviet-operated Barentsburg ran its own scrip simultaneously, and neither currency was accepted in the other's settlement.
By 1973, the scrip system was already nearing its end. Norwegian kroner replaced company currency in the settlements shortly afterward, making the later-dated issues the shortest-lived in circulation.