100 Roubles Arktikugol

Arktikugol — the Soviet state coal trust operating the Svalbard mining settlements of Barentsburg and Pyramiden — issued its own scrip currency for use exclusively within those communities. Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard under the 1920 Spitsbergen Treaty complicated any Soviet attempt to introduce roubles as a transactional currency on Norwegian soil, so the trust printed its own notes instead. The arrangement suited both sides and ran for decades.

The 1979 series introduced a watermark not present in earlier issues — a modest security upgrade for what was, functionally, a company town coupon redeemable only at trust-operated stores.