1 Cent - State Super Food Market Chicago, Illinois

Merchant scrip from American grocery chains was common through the mid-twentieth century, issued to avoid making change in small coin during periods when cents were either hoarded or simply inconvenient to keep in the till. State Super Food Market was a Chicago-area chain, and cent-denomination scrip like this sits at the lowest practical threshold — enough to matter at the register, small enough that most customers spent it immediately rather than redeeming it deliberately.

Almost none of this material was saved intentionally. Survival is purely accidental.