Imagine spending your days in the depths of the earth; doing the dirty, dangerous work of mining coal. Then consider what it would be like to be paid for your labor with money that could be considered virtually worthless. This was the plight of many miners during the early 20th Century; this is the story of scrip.
As coal mining in the Appalachian region of the United States began to develop in the late 1800’s, mines were established in remote, rugged areas, far away from banks and stores. Partially from a need to supply household goods to miners and partially to capitalize on an opportunity to make a profit, mine owners established company stores in their mining town. As actual U. S. currency was difficult for mines to keep on hand in sufficient quantities, the companies began to issue their own scrip tokens as payment for the miners’ wages. Most scrip was unique in appearance so that a mine’s company store could immediately identify its own scrip, as most did not want to accept tokens issued by another company.
Miners were given scrip in advance of their wages to buy necessities for the home, but also to pay rent on the company-owned houses they lived in, to buy tools and supplies for work, to pay utilities and medical care, and even to contribute to a mandatory funeral fund. All this was paid to the coal company. There was little retail competition in the coalfields and the prices at some company stores were often so high that miners virtually had nothing left to collect when payday arrived.
According to Stan Cohen, in his book, King Coal: “Payment by scrip served a dual purpose. The miner could get wages in advance of his regular paycheck, and he did not have borrow money or charge items at the store, The company in turn did not need to keep extensive charge account records, nor were there difficult collection problems involved.”
Scrip started out in paper form but by the early 1900’s was commonly being created in brass, copper, and aluminum coins. To conserve metal during World War II, fiber scrip was occasionally produced. Each company had its own version and each mine’s company store accepted only its own scrip. The government ultimately outlawed the use of scrip and it began to decline in use in the 1950’s, disappearing entirelyby the early 1970’s.
A variety of other industries besides coal - such as lumber, textiles, agriculture, paper, copper, gold, and silver—issued scrip, creating thousands of varieties from more than 30 states.
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Learn about the National Scrip Collectors Association by clicking here.
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