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5 Kroner Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company
| Issuer | Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap (The Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1957-1970 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Pale green note printed in black letterpress on plain paper, with a large light green underprint of the denomination numeral '5 Kr' centred across the face. The issuer's name 'Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap' is set in bold display type across the upper portion, above the denomination legend '5 – Fem kroner'. The series designation and number appear in the upper left and upper right corners respectively, with two manuscript signatures at the foot identifying the Chairman of the Board and the Office Manager, Spitsbergen. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain cream-white note printed in black letterpress with no border or underprint. The denomination '5 Kr.' is rendered in large, bold display numerals with fine interior hatching and decorative serif outlines, occupying virtually the entire face of the note. Faint show-through of the obverse text is visible through the paper. |
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| Comments |
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani operated a company town economy at Longyearbyen under the Svalbard Treaty framework, which placed the archipelago under Norwegian sovereignty but barred the state from imposing standard taxation — an arrangement that left the company free to issue its own scrip for use exclusively within its settlements. This note circulated as functional currency among miners who lived, ate, and spent within company-controlled infrastructure, with no practical alternative.
The scrip series ran across a period when the Norwegian government was actively debating whether to nationalize the coal operations entirely, which it eventually did in 1973. Notes from the tail end of this issue were already obsolete before they wore out.