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| Issuer | Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap |
|---|---|
| Year | 1926-1934 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Printed in red-orange on cream paper, the obverse is dominated by a large underprint of the denomination numeral '50' spanning the full height of the note, overlaid with the issuer's name 'Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani' in bold Gothic lettering within a decorative cartouche. The text body, set in a combination of blackletter and roman typefaces, sets out the conditions of use for this company scrip, with the season reference '1930/31' appearing in the body text. A single manuscript signature of the chairman of the board appears at lower left, with printed role designations 'Styrets formand' and 'Kontoret, Spitsbergen' at lower left and lower right respectively; a series letter and a hatched rectangular box appear at upper left and upper right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Betalingsmerke utstedt av Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskap Mot dette betalingsmerke, som er utstedt for tilgodehavende løn, utleverer Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani, til ihændehaveren varer for et -beløp av 50 - Femti øre Ubenyttede betalingsmerker blir ved ihændehaverens avreise fra Spitsbergen i sæsonen 1930/31 at tilbakelevere til kontoret mot beløpets godskrivning i opgjøret. Merket er ugyldig utenfor Spitsbergen og efter sæsonens avslutning. Styrets formand. Kontordjef, Spitsbergen. (Translation: Payment note issued by The Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company Against this payment note, which is issued for outstanding wages, The Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company delivers to the bearer goods for an amount of 50 øre Unused notes when the bearer departs from Spitsbergen during the season 1930/31 is returned to the office against credit of the amount in the settlement. The note is invalid outside Spitsbergen and after the end of the season. Chairman of the board. Office manager, Spitsbergen.) |
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| Comments |
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani was a company scrip issuer operating in one of the most remote inhabited places on earth — Longyearbyen, Svalbard, where the Norwegian state maintained sovereignty under the 1920 Spitsbergen Treaty but private mining companies ran the practical economy. The company issued its own currency because ordinary Norwegian kroner were scarce and inconvenient to move in and out of the archipelago; workers were paid partly in scrip redeemable only at the company store, a system common in isolated industrial settlements of the period.
The SN14r designation indicates a remainder — unissued stock — which survives in higher numbers than circulated examples from active mining camps, where notes took serious physical punishment.