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| Issuer | General Committee for the Portsmouth, Ohio Celebration |
|---|---|
| Year | 1937-1938 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 106.5 x 62.6 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 150TH ANNIVERSARY 1787-8 NORTHWEST TERRITORY 1937-8 CELEBRATION PORTSMOUTH OHIO OCTOBER 2-6 1938 ONE WOODEN NICKEL ISSUED AT PORTSMOUTH, OHIO, 1938 IN CELEBRATION OF 150 YEARS OF PROGRESS |
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| Reverse lettering | THIS TOKEN IS ISSUED BY THE GENERAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PORTSMOUTH, OHIO, CELEBRATION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY AND IS REDEEMABLE AT ITS FACE VALUE OF ONE NICKEL IN COIN OF THE UNITED STATES IF PRE- SENTED FOR REDEMPTION ON OR BEFORE 12 NOON SAT., OCT. 1ST, 1938 AT THE GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING, PORTSMOUTH, OHIO R. F. Fletcher L. M. Strickland General Chairman Secretary ONE WOODEN NICKEL |
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| Comments |
Wooden nickels issued for sesquicentennial celebrations were a genuine regional phenomenon in Depression-era America — cheap to produce, easy to distribute, and just acceptable enough as trade tokens that local merchants would honor them during the event period. Portsmouth, Ohio had particular claim to the Northwest Territory anniversary: the town sits in Scioto County, directly within the original Territory boundaries established by the Ordinance of 1787, which banned slavery north of the Ohio River decades before the Civil War made it a national issue.
Fletcher and Strickland signed as committee officers, not as officials of any banking or governmental authority. These were never legal tender by any definition.