3-Dollars -CJ's Bar & Grill Fall River, Wisconsin

Privately issued scrip denominated in odd amounts — $3 being the most common — typically served a single purpose: keeping customer spending within a specific establishment. A bar issuing its own currency isn't unprecedented in small-town Wisconsin, where informal trade tokens and house scrip have circulated since the tavern economy of the mid-20th century. The $3 denomination almost certainly reflects a specific drink price or a promotional mechanic tied to a particular offer rather than any general-purpose exchange value.

No federal prohibition applies to privately issued scrip of this kind, provided it isn't designed to resemble U.S. currency — a constraint the small format and unusual denomination neatly sidestep.