1 Cent - Safeway Stores, Incorporated Salt Lake City, Utah

Safeway Stores issued paper scrip in small denominations during the 1930s as a practical response to the nationwide coin shortage that followed the banking crises of the Depression. Retailers across the United States — grocery chains especially — found that customers lacked exact change, slowing checkout lines and complicating cash reconciliation. Issuing fractional paper currency internally solved both problems at once.

The Salt Lake City origin is worth noting: Utah operations were among Safeway's earlier regional expansions following the 1926 merger that consolidated Skaggs and Safeway under one corporate umbrella.