5 Kroner Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company

Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani — commonly known as Store Norske — was founded in 1916 after Norwegian interests bought out an American coal mining operation on Svalbard. These company scrip notes were issued for internal use at Longyearbyen, where no conventional banking infrastructure existed and the nearest Norwegian port was hundreds of miles away across open Arctic water. Workers were paid partly in this scrip, redeemable only at the company store.

The SN27r designation indicates a remainder — unissued stock — which survives in greater numbers than genuinely circulated examples. Circulated pieces show heavy wear consistent with the rough conditions of a coal camp.