1 Cent - Mack's Super Market Harlan, Kentucky

Mack's Super Market scrip from Harlan, Kentucky places this piece squarely in the tradition of Appalachian coal country trade tokens and store currency — Harlan County was so dominated by company and community scrip systems through the mid-twentieth century that private redemption notes remained culturally familiar long after they had disappeared elsewhere in the country. Whether this cent denomination was issued for making change or as a promotional device is the genuinely interesting question; single-cent paper scrip is rare enough that change-making is the more likely answer, since promotional denominations almost never went this low.