5 Cents - Food Stamp Scrip Red Owl Stores Inc.

Red Owl Stores operated as a major Upper Midwest grocery chain headquartered in Hopkins, Minnesota, and issued fractional scrip of this kind as change-making instruments tied to U.S. federal food stamp redemptions. Federal food stamp regulations for much of the program's early history prohibited giving cash change — even for a few cents — when customers used stamps to purchase eligible goods. Retailers found themselves stuck with awkward fractional balances, and scrip like this was one practical workaround, redeemable at the issuing store only.

The practice was eventually curtailed as federal rules tightened around what retailers could issue in lieu of coin.