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50 Øre Bear Island
| Issuer | Bjørnøen A.S. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920-1921 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 100 x 60 mm |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed text in black on light brown paper, with a light blue floral underprint to the left flanking the denomination. The face carries the full Norwegian-language legend in multiple lines, issued by Bjørnøen A.S. as a company wage-payment voucher for the 1920–21 season, with signature lines for the Disponent and Kontorchef at foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse entirely unprinted, presenting a plain light brown paper surface. |
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| Comments |
Bjørnøen A.S. was a Norwegian mining company that held a concession on Bear Island (Bjørnøya) in the Svalbard archipelago and issued its own scrip for internal company use — a practical necessity given the island's remoteness and the absence of any formal banking infrastructure. These notes functioned as a closed-economy currency, redeemable only at the company store, and had no legal standing beyond the camp perimeter.
The timing is significant: Bear Island scrip was in circulation during the precise window when Svalbard's sovereign status was still unresolved, with the 1920 Spitsbergen Treaty not entering into force until 1925. The island sat in a genuine legal grey zone.