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1 Cent - M & L Meat Co. Chicago, Illinois
| Issuer | M & L Meat Co. |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Cent (0.01 USD) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Yellow paper food stamp credit slip with letterpress-printed ornate border incorporating scallop and scroll guilloche patterns and circular corner medallions bearing the denomination "1c". Center carries a vignette of a scales-of-justice on the left and a small Liberty-type oval vignette to its right, with the issuer name and address in bold type. A panel at the base reads "ONE CENT CREDIT SLIP". |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain yellow paper reverse with a faint repetitive geometric underprint pattern visible across the entire surface, otherwise unprinted. |
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| Comments |
M & L Meat Co. was one of hundreds of Chicago meatpacking-district businesses that issued small-denomination paper scrip during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when coin shortages or simple payroll logistics made fractional currency practical for in-house use. These trade tokens and scrip notes were typically redeemable only at the issuing company's store or commissary — a system that kept workers' wages circulating back to the employer. Illinois scrip of this type occupied a legal grey area for decades before stricter labor regulations curtailed the practice.