50 Kroner Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company

Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani — still operating today — ran Longyearbyen as a company town well into the postwar decades. Norway maintained sovereignty over Svalbard under the 1920 Treaty, but the archipelago exists outside the Norwegian customs area, which created genuine practical problems for currency. Rather than use Norwegian kroner, the company issued its own scrip redeemable only within the settlement, controlling the local money supply entirely. Workers were paid in company currency, spent it at company stores, and had little opportunity to do otherwise.

The reverse designation "SN49r" indicates a recognized variety within this series — likely a printing or serial number distinction rather than a separate issue date.