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| Issuer | Fourth Street Arapahoe, Inc. |
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| Year | |
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| Value | 1 Cent 0.01 USD = EUR 0.0085 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Plain tan cardboard stock printed in dark brown letterpress. The face is divided into a bordered grid layout with denomination numerals "1¢" at all four corners; the upper panel carries the redemption notice, side panels bear vertical legends, and the central field contains store and banking details with a designated store stamp area. The lower panel repeats the USDA Food Stamp Program authorization legend. |
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse is entirely unprinted, presenting a plain tan cardboard surface with no lettering, vignette, or design elements of any kind. |
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| Comments |
Fourth Street Arapahoe, Inc. was a Pueblo, Colorado business that issued its own cardboard scrip — a practice that survived well into the twentieth century among American retailers and service establishments as a way to manage small change shortages or encourage repeat custom. The specific circumstances behind this issue are not well documented, but merchant scrip of this type was most common during the 1930s Depression era, when coin was hoarded and small denominations genuinely scarce at the local level.
Cardboard scrip from single-business Colorado issuers rarely survives in quantity. Most was redeemed, worn out, or simply discarded once the issuing concern closed.