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3 Kopecks
| Issuer | State Trust Arktikugol (Государственный Трест «Арктикуголь»), USSR Ministry of the Coal Industry |
|---|---|
| Year | 1979 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 85 × 50 mm |
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| Obverse description | Printed in green on white paper, the obverse carries the issuing authority in Cyrillic letterpress across the upper half: «СССР / МИНИСТЕРСТВО УГОЛЬНОЙ ПРОМЫШЛЕННОСТИ / ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТРЕСТ / «АРКТИКУГОЛЬ»». Two guilloche rosette vignettes, each bearing the numeral «3» in white relief, flank the central text at left and right. Below centre, the serial number is printed in red, followed by the denomination legend «ТРИ КОПЕЙКИ» in large green capitals and the circulation restriction clause at foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ПРИ УТЕРЕ НЕ ВОЗОБНОВЛЯЕТСЯ НЕИСПОЛЬЗОВАННЫЕ ТАЛОНЫ ПОДЛЕЖАТ ВОЗВРАТУ В КАССУ ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ. |
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| Comments |
Arktikugol — the Soviet state trust established in 1931 to mine coal on Svalbard — operated under Norwegian sovereignty but Soviet administration, a jurisdictional oddity that made ordinary Soviet currency impractical. Rather than deal with the complications of Norwegian customs and currency law, the trust printed its own scrip for use exclusively within the Barentsburg and Pyramiden mining settlements. These notes, often called "coal money," had no validity anywhere outside the archipelago's Soviet enclaves.
The 1979 series replaced an earlier issue as the trust updated its internal payment infrastructure. Scrip was used for canteen purchases, small goods, and services within the camps — Norwegian kroner were used for any dealings outside.