1 Cent - Safeway Stores Los Angeles, California

Safeway Stores issued paper scrip in small denominations during the 1930s as a practical response to the national coin shortage that accompanied the Depression. Retailers across the United States — grocery chains especially — found that making exact change was genuinely difficult when customers were spending carefully and coins were being hoarded. This 1 cent denomination is among the smallest-denomination trade scrip known from a major American chain, and the Los Angeles designation likely reflects regional issuance rather than a single store authorization.