1 Cent - Allens Market Chicago, Illinois

Allens Market was one of hundreds of American retail grocers and general stores that issued their own fractional paper scrip during the early 1930s, when the hoarding of coins following the banking panics created a genuine shortage of small change in everyday commerce. These merchant-issued cents were a practical workaround — accepted in-store, occasionally circulating among neighboring businesses, and utterly without legal backing. The federal government tolerated them briefly before clamping down as recovery programs stabilized the coin supply.

Allens Market's Chicago issue is otherwise undocumented in major scrip references, which is itself typical of hyper-local store currency that was printed in small runs and rarely survived redemption.