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15 Cents Sutton and Stewart
| Issuer | Sutton & Stewart |
|---|---|
| Year | 1862 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 130 × 69 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 15 SUTTON & STEWART, PAY TO BEARER, FIFTEEN CENTS When presented in sums of One or more Dollars. Indiana, Pa., December 18th, 1862 |
| Reverse description | Printed in red ink, the reverse is dominated by three circular cartouches each bearing the numeral '15', arranged left, center, and right, with the word 'CENTS' inscribed below the central cartouche. The central medallion contains a vignette of a standing female figure in military costume holding a flag, enclosed within a wreath of laurel branches. The obverse design is visible in blue-grey show-through behind the red overprint, giving a two-color layered effect. |
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| Comments |
Sutton & Stewart was a dry goods and general merchandise firm operating in Indiana, Pennsylvania — the county seat of Indiana County, not the state. Like hundreds of similar businesses across the antebellum North, the firm began issuing fractional scrip in 1862 when small-denomination coinage all but vanished from circulation, hoarded by a public rattled by wartime uncertainty. The federal government's own Postage Currency wouldn't reach widespread distribution until late that year, leaving a vacuum that private merchants rushed to fill.
Merchant scrip of this type was redeemable only at the issuer's own counter, which made it as much a customer retention tool as a monetary stopgap.