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500 Kroner Great Norwegian Spitsbergen Coal Company
| Issuer | Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskapet |
|---|---|
| Year | 1973 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Krone (1875-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Plain light-coloured note with a dense green letterpress underprint repeating the text 'STORENORSKESPITSBERGENKULKOMPANI' in continuous rows across the entire field. The central denomination legend '500 FEMHUNDRE KRONER 500' is printed in large bold black letterpress, with the issuing authority's name 'Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Aktieselskapet' set in a large display typeface above it. Series designation, date (1973), and serial number appear in the upper corners, with two manuscript signatures and printed titles at the lower centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | 500 KRONER |
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| Comments |
Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani — majority owned by the Norwegian state — operated the mining settlements at Longyearbyen and Svea on Svalbard, and issued its own scrip currency for use within those communities. Under the terms of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, Norway holds sovereignty over the archipelago but is bound by provisions granting other signatory nations equal rights to commercial exploitation, which created an unusual administrative situation: a Norwegian state-controlled company running what amounted to a company town, complete with its own monetary system, well into the 1970s.
The scrip had no value outside the settlement stores. By 1973 this was already an anachronism.