1 Cent - Food Stamp Scrip Cloquet Shopping Center

Cloquet, Minnesota was one of a small number of American localities that issued food stamp scrip during the early 1960s federal pilot program, before the Food Stamp Act of 1964 nationalized the system. Retailers and shopping centers in participating counties issued fractional cent scrip to make change against federal food stamp coupons, which were printed only in whole-dollar denominations — leaving cashiers no practical way to return odd amounts without it.

This 1-cent piece from the Cloquet Shopping Center is a working artifact of that gap.