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Coal Company Scrip
"Flickers", "Clackers", "Checks", P'lolly", "Light-Weights", "Chinky Tin", "Dingles", "Stickers", "Dugaloo"
... also known as SCRIP!
Coal Memories offers an ever changing variety of Appalachian-region scrip
for sale. Most of our pieces are from mines that operated in southern West Virginia. Each order comes
with an information card relating the information above about the history of mine scrip and a sheet detailing the hundreds
of items we use every day that are created from coal. Great information for school reports & projects, as well
as great fun for coin collectors & history buffs!
To see the pieces we have for sale, look on eBay at Coal
Mining Memories:
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Edkins Catalogues
The three Edkins volumes are the guides to collecting, identifying, and
valuing scrip & tokens. Click the photo to browse each volume.
Volume 1 - Guide to North American scrip, excluding
West Virginia.
Volume 2 - Guide to West Virginia scrip.
Lumber Company Tokens
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20,000 Coal Company Stores
Printed thirty-five years ago, this original limited-edition volume
contains an indespensible collection of information - store listings throughout North America, locations, years of operation,
and employment figures. Click to photo for more information.
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The History of Scrip
Imagine spending your days working in the depths
of the earth; doing the dirty, dangerous job of mining coal. Then consider what it would be like to be paid for your
labor with money that was almost worthless! This was the plight of some miners in the Appalachian region during the
early 20th-Century; this is the story of scrip.
As coal mining in West Virginia began to develop in the late 1800’s, mines
were established in remote, rugged areas of the state, far away from banks and stores. Partially from a need to supply
household staples to miners’ families, and partially to capitalize on an opportunity to make additional profit, mine
owners established company stores in the mining towns.
Miner were given scrip in advance of their wages to buy necessities for the
home, but also to pay rent on the company owned houses they lived in, to buy needed mining
supplies for work, for utilities, medical care, and even to contribute to a mandatory funeral fund – all paid to the
coal mine company! There was no competition in the coalfields and prices were often so high that the miner had nothing
left to collect when payday finally arrived.
Scrip started out in paper form, but by the 1920’s was being produced in brass, copper,
and aluminum coins. To conserve metal during World War II, fiber scip was produced. Each company produced it’s
own version, often punched with the mine number or the initial of the town it was used in, and each company store accepted
only its own mine’s scrip. Many states outlawed the use of scrip and it finally disappeared from use altogether,
although it remains today as a fascinating reminder of those years gone by.
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1818 Harper Rd
Beckley, WV 25801
304/253-7242
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