15 Cents - Food Stamp Scrip Family Thrift Center

Food stamp scrip of this type emerged from a federal loophole that persisted until the 1990s: when a food stamp purchase left a fractional change amount below a set threshold, retailers were permitted to issue their own paper scrip redeemable for future purchases rather than making change in cash. Family Thrift Center in Williston issued these 15-cent notes under exactly that provision. The practice was effectively killed by the 1996 welfare reform legislation, which phased out paper food stamps entirely in favor of the EBT card system.

Williston, in McKenzie County oil country, was a small-market town when these circulated — a single grocery chain issuing its own fractional currency is an odd footnote to federal food assistance policy.