200 Kroner Jan Mayen

(en) Jan Mayen is a volcanic island in the North Atlantic belonging to Norway. After Germany invaded Norway in 1940, the four Norwegian inhabitants of the island sent weather reports to London. An attempt to send reinforcements to the island failed when the ship ran aground. The ship-wrecked crew and the four Norwegians were rescued by the British and the island was temporarily abandoned. The Germans then attempted to land on the island and set up a weather station, but their ship crashed on the rocks and the crew captured by a British destroyer. In the spring of 1941 twelve Norwegian weathermen landed on the island. Germans planes attempted to bomb and strafe the weather station, but did little damage. In 1942 a German bomber smashed into a mountain, killing all nine crew members. In 1943 the Americans established a radio locating station on the island. Today the island's only inhabitants are personnel from the Norwegian Armed Forces and Norwegian Meteorological Institute. This unofficial 2019 200 Kroner of Jan Mayen depicts an Arctic Fox and a Polar Bear on one side and the arms of Norway and a compass rose on the other. The eight-sided, 40mm silver-plated Proof coin has a mintage of only 150 pieces.