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1 Krone Bear Island
| Issuer | Bjørnøen A.S. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920-1921 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed text in black on light brown paper, with a light green floral underprint to the left behind the denomination. The note carries multi-line Norwegian text setting out terms of use, with the issuer name BJØRNØEN A.S. and the value EN KRONE in larger type. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Betalingsmerke utstedt av BJØRNØEN A.S. Mot dette betalingsmerke, som er utstedt for tilgodehavende løn, utleverer BJØRNØEN A.S. til ihændehaveren varer for et beløp av 1 krone EN KRONE Ubenyttede betalingsmerker blir ved ihændeha- verens avreise fra Bjørnøen i sæsonen 1920-21 at tilbakelevere til kontoret mot beløpets god- skrivning i opgjøret. Merket er ugyldig uten- for Bjørnøen og efter sæsonens slut. DISPONENT KONTORCHEF, BJØRNØEN. (Translation: Payment note issued by Bear Island LLC Against this payment note, which is issued for outstanding wages, Bear Island LLC delivers to the bearer good for an amount of 1 krone. Unused payment notes should when the bearer departs from Bear Island in the season 1920/21 be returned to the office against credit of the amount in the settlement. The note is invalid outside Bear Island and after the end of the season. Manager Office manager, Bear Island.) |
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| Comments |
Bjørnøen A.S. was a Norwegian mining company that briefly held a concession to exploit coal on Bear Island, the remote Norwegian-claimed island in the Barents Sea roughly midway between Svalbard and the Norwegian mainland. These notes — technically company scrip rather than sovereign currency — were issued for internal use among the small workforce stationed there during the company's operational period, before the 1920 Svalbard Treaty formalized Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago and effectively ended the commercial venture.
Bear Island scrip of any denomination is genuinely rare. The workforce was tiny, the operation short-lived, and few pieces made it back to the mainland in any condition.