GENEVA SUPPLY COMPANY, MARTIN, PA. - $ 1.00 in MERCHANDISE ONLY - NOT TRANSFERABLE. MASTER METAL SCRIP - $ 1.00 IN TRADE - INGLE-SCHIER CO., DAYTON, OHIO. . USPS Insured delivery in the US.

A scrip (or chit in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitative payment of employees under truck systems; or for use in local commerce at times when regular currency was unavailable, for example in remote coal towns, military bases, ships on long voyages, or occupied countries in wartime. Besides company scrip, other forms of scrip include land scrip, vouchers, token coins such as subway tokens, IOUs, arcade tokens and tickets, and points on some credit cards.


Scrips have gained historical importance and become a subject of study in numismatics and exonumia due to their wide variety and recurring use. Scrip behaves similarly to a currency, and as such can be used to study monetary economics.


History

A variety of forms of scrip were used at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries.


Company scrip

Company scrip is a substitute for currency to pay a company's employees.


In United States mining or logging camps where everything was owned and operated by a single company, scrip provided the workers with credit when their wages had been depleted. These remote locations were cash poor. Workers had very little choice but to purchase food and other goods at a company store. In this way, the company could charge enormous markups on goods, making workers completely dependent on the company, thus enforcing a form of loyalty to the company. Additionally, while employees could exchange scrip for cash, this could rarely be done at face value. This kind of scrip was valid only within the settlement where it was issued. While store owners in neighboring communities could accept the scrip as money, they rarely did so at face value, as it was worth less.[citation needed]


When U.S. President Andrew Jackson issued his Specie Circular of 1836 due to credit shortages, Virginia Scrip was accepted as payment for federal lands.


In the 19th century, the federal government in Western Canada offered money scrip (valued at $160 or $240) or land scrip, valued at 160 acres (65 ha) or 240 acres (97 ha), to Métis people in exchange for their Aboriginal rights.[1]


During the Great Depression, at the height of the crisis, many local governments paid employees in scrip. Vermilion, Alberta was just one example.[2]


In the U.S., payment of wages in scrip became illegal under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.[3]


The expression scrip is also used in the stock market where companies can sometimes pay dividends in the form of additional shares/stock rather than in money.[4] It is also a written document that acknowledges debt.


After World War I and World War II, scrip was used as notgeld ("emergency money") in Germany and Austria.


Scrip was used extensively in prisoner-of-war camps during World War II, at least in countries that complied with the Third Geneva Convention. Under the Geneva Conventions, enlisted prisoners of war could be made to work and had to be paid for their labor, but not necessarily in cash. Since ordinary money could be used in escape attempts, they were given scrip that could only be used with the approval of camp authorities, usually only within the camps.


Poker chips, also referred to as casino tokens, are commonly used as money with which to gamble. The use of chips as company money in the early 19th century in Devon, England, in the Wheal Friendship[5] copper mine gave its name to a local village of Chipshop.


Stamp scrip

Stamp scrip was a type of local money designed to be circulated and not to be hoarded.


One type of this worked this way. Each scrip certificate had printed boxes; every month a stamp costing a certain amount (in a typical case, 1% of the face value) had to be purchased and recorded in a box, otherwise the scrip lost all its value. This provided a great incentive to spend the scrip quickly. The scheme was used successfully in Germany and Austria in the early 1930s, after national currencies collapsed. National governments considered themselves threatened by the success of stamp scrip projects, and shut them down; similar misgivings discouraged their later use elsewhere.[6]


The Alberta Social Credit Party government in 1937 issued prosperity certificates, a form of provincial currency, in an effort to encourage spending. This scrip had boxes in which a stamp equal to 2% of the value had to be affixed each week. Thus, the value of the certificate was covered by the cost of the stamps at the year's end when it matured.


Modern usage

Scrip survives in modern times in various forms.


Community-issued scrip


This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2020)

The use of locally issued scrip accepted by multiple businesses within a community increased during the late-2000s recession. Community-wide scrip usage has begun or is on the rise in Ithaca, New York; Detroit; The Berkshires; Pittsboro, North Carolina; Traverse City, Michigan; Lamar, Colorado; Calgary, Canada; Bristol, UK; and Hagen, Germany.[7][8][9][10]


Breadcoin scrip was created in Washington DC in 2016 to address food insecurity.[11]


Thailand's township Amphoe Kut Chum once issued its own local scrip called Bia Kut Chum: Bia is Thai for cowry shell, which was once used as small change, and still so used in metaphorical expressions. To side-step implications that the community intended their scrip as an unlawful substitute for currency, it now issues exchange coupons called Boon Kut Chum.[12]


Company-issued customer scrip

Some companies still issue scrip notes and token coin, good for use at company points of sale. Among these are the Canadian Tire money for the Canadian Tire stores and gasbars in Canada, and Disney Dollars (no longer printed, but still accepted), in circulation at The Magic Kingdoms and at other establishments owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company.


Scrip gift cards and gift certificates


A scrip card from a babysitting group

In the retail and fundraising industries, scrip is now issued in the form of gift cards, eCards, or less commonly paper gift certificates. Physical gift cards often have a magnetic strip or optically readable bar code to facilitate redemption at the point of sale.


In the late 1980s, the term scrip evolved to include a fundraising method popular with non-profit organizations like schools, bands and athletic groups.[13] With scrip fundraising, retailers offer the gift certificates and gift cards to non-profit organizations at a discount. The non-profit organizations sell the gift cards to member's families at full face value. The families redeem the gift cards at full face value, and the discount or rebate is retained by the non-profit organization as revenue.[14]


Commercial gift cards

Main article: Gift card

Visa, Mastercard and American Express gift cards are initially funded by a credit card or bank account, after which the funding account and gift card are not connected to one another. Once the predetermined funds are consumed, the card number expires. A gift of a gift card, maybe in an attractive wrapper, may be seen as more socially acceptable than a gift of cash. It also prevents the gift being spent on something the giver views as undesirable (or used as savings).


However, unless the gift card is obtained at a discount (paying less than the actual value of the card), buying scrip with ordinary money is arguably pointless, as it then ties up the money until it is used, and usually it may only be used at one store. Furthermore, not all gift cards issued are redeemed. In 2006, the value of unredeemed gift cards was estimated at almost US$8 billion.[15]


Another disadvantage of gift cards is that some issuers charge "maintenance fees" on the cards, particularly if they are not used after a certain period of time; or the card will expire after a given period of time.[16] Some provinces and states in North America (e.g. California, Ontario, Massachusetts, Ohio, Washington) have enacted laws to eliminate non-use fees or expirations,[17] but because the laws often only apply to single-merchant cards[18] buyers have to review the gift card conditions prior to purchase to determine exact restrictions and fees.[19] Additionally, if a retailer goes bankrupt, gift cards can suddenly become worthless. Even if stores do not close immediately, the company may stop accepting the cards.[20] This became a significant issue during the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, prompting the Consumers Union to call upon the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the issue.[21]


Land scrip (United States)

Land scrip was a right to purchase federal public domain land in the United States, a common form of investment in the 19th century. As a type of federal aid to local governments or private corporations, Congress would grant land in lieu of cash. Most of the time the grantee did not seek to acquire any actual land but rather would sell the right to claim the land to private investors in the form of scrip. Often the land title was finalized only after the scrip was resold several times utilizing land agents also called warrant brokers.[22] These grants came in the form of railroad land grants, university land grants, and grants to veterans for war service.[23][24]


Land scrip (Canada)

In 19th-century Western Canada, the federal government devised a system of land grants. Notes in the form of money scrip (valued at $160 or $240) or land scrip, valued at 160 acres (65 ha) or 240 acres (97 ha), were offered to Métis people in exchange for their Aboriginal rights.[25] Scrip was also issued to white settlers and members of the North-West Mounted Police.[26] Land was claimed at a Dominion Lands Act office,[27] often being far from where the Métis lived. The available land was located in northern Saskatchewan, Alberta,[28] and Manitoba[26] as opposed to the Métis' more southern homeland.[29] Monetary scrip was also issued.[30] Many Métis sold their scrip to land speculators at prices far below their actual worth,[31] with estimates placing the amount of scrip sold as high as 12,560 (out of 14,849).[32][33]


From the 17th to the early 19th century in the British Isles (and also elsewhere in the British Empire) and North America, tokens were commonly issued by merchants in times of acute shortage of coins of the state. These tokens were in effect a pledge redeemable in goods, but not necessarily for currency.

In numismatics, token coins or trade tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins. The field of token coins is part of exonumia and token coins are token money. Their denomination is shown or implied by size, color or shape. They are often made of cheaper metals like copper, pewter, aluminum, brass and tin, or non-metals like bakelite, leather and porcelain.[1]

A legal tender coin is issued by a governmental authority and is freely exchangeable for goods. A token coin has a narrower utility and is issued by a private entity. In many instances, token coins have become obsolete due to the use of cash, payment cards, stored value cards or other electronic transactions.

Trade
Coin-like objects from the Roman Empire called spintriae have been interpreted as an early form of token. Their functions are not documented, but they appear to have been brothel tokens or possibly gaming tokens.[2]

Medieval English monasteries issued tokens to pay for services from outsiders. These tokens circulated in nearby villages, where they were called "Abbot's money". Also, counters called jetons were used as small change without official blessing.[3]

From the 17th to the early 19th century in the British Isles (and also elsewhere in the British Empire) and North America, tokens were commonly issued by merchants in times of acute shortage of coins of the state. These tokens were in effect a pledge redeemable in goods, but not necessarily for currency. These tokens never received official sanction from government but were accepted and circulated quite widely.

In England, the production of copper farthings was permitted by royal licence in the first few decades of the 17th century, but production ceased during the English Civil War and a great shortage of small change resulted. This shortage was felt more keenly because of the rapid growth of trade in the towns and cities, and this in turn prompted both local authorities and merchants to issue tokens.

These tokens were most commonly made of copper or brass, but pewter, lead and occasionally leather tokens are also found. Most were not given a specific denomination and were intended to substitute for farthings, but there are also a large number of halfpenny and sometimes penny tokens. Halfpenny and penny tokens usually, but not always, bear the denomination on their face.


Brass trade token from Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory
Most such tokens show the issuer's full name or initials. Where initials were shown, it was common practice to show three initials: the first names of husband and wife and their surname. Tokens would also normally indicate the merchant establishment, either by name or by picture. Most were round, but they are also found in square, heart or octagonal shapes.

Thousands of towns and merchants issued these tokens from 1648 until 1672, when official production of farthings resumed, and private production was suppressed.

There were again coin shortages in the late 18th century, when the British Royal Mint almost ceased production. Merchants once again produced tokens, but they were now machine made and typically larger than their 17th century predecessors, with values of a halfpenny or more. While many were used in trade, they were also produced for advertising and political purposes, and some series were produced for the primary purpose of sale to collectors. These tokens are usually known as Conder tokens, after the writer of the first reference book on them.


Show World Center token, New York City, c. 1990
These were issued by merchants in payment for goods with the agreement that they would be redeemed in goods to an equivalent value at the merchants' own outlets. The tokens play a role of convenience, allowing the seller to receive his goods at a rate and time convenient to himself, and the merchant to tie the holder of the token coin to his shop.

Tokens, coinlike objects that have a stated or implied value in trade, originated in the Ancient World, were used in Colonial America and are sometimes still used today in arcades, slot machines, car washes and video games. On the Western frontier, where minted coins were scarce and drawing customers was often highly competitive, tokens were especially popular.

For early pioneers and settlers, dealing with the shortage of coins was a challenge, which they met with their usual ingenious methods. One practice was to cut silver dollars or similar denomination foreign coins into pie-shaped pieces for making change. Since the currency was usually cut into eighths, one bit was worth 12 ½ cents. Two bits were worth 25 cents, four bits 50 cents and six bits 75 cents. Because there was no one-bit coin in circulation, a 10-cent piece (dime) was sometimes called a short bit.

In saloons, two bits were good for two drinks, a good cigar or a “smile” (a 2 ½-ounce bottle of whiskey). A cheap cigar or beer was 5 cents and a game of pool was usually 2 ½ cents. When a customer ordered a 12 ½-cent drink and paid with a quarter, he had the choice of receiving a dime in change or a token for another drink at 12 ½ cents. He would rarely pass on that second drink. Since the token was only good in that particular establishment, he hung around and spent his token, and probably a few more quarters as well. If a token wasn’t redeemed, the proprietor made even more money, as it only cost him 2 to 4 cents to have one made.

Tokens were also used for advertising. After the Civil War, when Texas Longhorns were driven to the railheads in Kansas for shipment east and saloons flourished in the various cow towns, saloon owners sent drummers along the trails to distribute tokens. When the cowboys reached the end of the trail, they had tokens in their pockets as well as cash. They would use their tokens to get free drinks and, hopefully for the proprietors, buy many more drinks in the same establishments.

Saloons weren’t the only Western businesses that regularly took advantage of tokens. Groceries, bakeries and ice companies all provided tokens. There were tokens for a ride on a streetcar, a meal, a shave and a bath. In fact, the earliest tokens in the West were issued by the traders connected to the military posts and date as early as 1860.