1 Cent - Schwegmann Bros. Giant Super Markets New Orleans, Louisiana

Schwegmann Brothers was a New Orleans institution — a chain of enormous, deliberately chaotic grocery stores where John Schwegmann ran a sideline in political theater, printing his opinions on shopping bags and taking out full-page newspaper ads attacking oil companies and politicians alike. The store-issued scrip was a practical response to the chronic small-coin shortage that plagued American retailers in the early 1970s, not a marketing stunt. Pendleton & Company handled the printing locally, which kept the whole operation within the city.

This kind of merchant scrip occupied a legal gray area at the time of issue — redeemable only in-store, which conveniently meant any cent issued came back as a purchase rather than a cash drain.