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1 Cent - Louis Stores Emeryville, California
| Issuer | Louis Stores, Emeryville, California |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Pink paper voucher with a decorative border of repeating foliate ornaments. The denomination '1¢' appears at upper left and right in bold letterpress, with 'ONE CENT' and 'FOOD STAMP CREDIT' in large bold capitals across the top. A dashed rectangle frames the central 'Louis Stores / Emeryville, California' legend, flanked on each side by 'Redeemable at This Store Only' in upright roman type. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 1¢ ONE CENT 1¢ FOOD STAMP CREDIT Redeemable Only By Participant of U.S. Govt. Food Stamp Program For Food Items On Authorized List. Redeemable at This Store Only Louis Stores EMERYVILLE, CALIFORNIA Redeemable at This Store Only |
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| Comments |
Louis Stores operated a chain of department stores in the East Bay area of California, and like many American retailers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, issued their own paper scrip for in-store credit or change-making purposes. Private merchant scrip of this type fills a gap that federal coinage policy created — the chronic small-coin shortage that plagued retail commerce for decades meant that a 1-cent denomination in paper was a genuine functional solution, not a novelty.
California merchant scrip is underrepresented in most general collections. The Emeryville provenance is the detail worth noting here — the city was then a densely industrial enclave surrounded by Oakland, known more for its meatpacking and manufacturing than for retail.