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5 Kopeks Arktikugol
| Issuer | Arktikugol Trust (Spitsbergen Mining Administration) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931 |
| Type | Vouchers |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | АРКТИКУГОЛЬ ШПИЦБЕРГЕНСКОЕ РУДОУПРАВЛЕНИЕ ОРДЕР ДЛЯ ЗАБОРА ТОВАРОВ НА СУММУ ПЯТЬ КОПЕЕК В МАГАЗИНАХ РУДНИКОВ ТРЕСТА АРКТИКУГОЛЬ НА О. ШПИЦБЕРГЕНЕ НИКАКИЕ ЗАЯВЛЕНИЯ ОБ УТЕРЕ ОРДЕРОВ НЕ ПРИНИМАЮТСЯ Начальник треста Арктикуголь Гл. бухгалтер (Translation: Arktikugol Spitsbergen Mining Administration Coupon For the amount of 5 Kopeks. Gives rights to the bearer to receive goods from the stores of the mines of the trust Arktikugol on the island of Spitsbergen. No statement shall be accepted in the event of loss of the coupon. Head of the trust Arktikugol Chief Accountant) |
| Reverse description | Plain unprinted paper stock, aged to a tan-ochre tone, with the denomination in two lines of bold serif Cyrillic capitals centred in the middle field. No decorative elements, borders, or underprint are present; the text is the sole printed element on this side. |
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| Comments |
Arktikugol — the Soviet coal trust operating on Spitsbergen under the Svalbard Treaty — issued its own scrip currency beginning in 1931 because Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago meant Soviet rubles had no legal standing there. Workers at the Barentsburg mines were paid in this internal currency, redeemable only at the trust's own company store. It was a closed monetary loop by design, not accident.
The 1931 series is the first and most historically significant issue. Surviving examples in any condition are genuinely uncommon — the scrip had no reason to leave the island, and much of what wasn't spent was simply discarded or lost.