All Kaymoor Scrip Contributed by Kevin Andersen Fayetteville, WV
WEST VIRGINIA COAL MINE SCRIP
Coal mining began on a large scale in West Virginia in the late 19th century. Due to the rugged terrain and the distance from banks, the larger mining companies issued token money to pay their miners. By the 1920s the use of coal mine scrip had become common practice. Scrip was part of a very profitable system that the companies used to increase the profits on their operations.
This is how it worked. The scrip was issued as an advance against wages. It was good only at the company store. The prices were high and there was no competition. The miner would receive U.S. currency on payday only if he did not owe the company money. In addition to groceries, clothing, and other necessities for the home, a miner had to pay rent to live in a company house, pay for his own tools, powder, caps, other mining supplies, pay doctor bills (company doctor), water (company wells), electricity (company power plant), blacksmithing charges on his tools (company blacksmith), and contribute to a compulsory funeral fund.
The charges were endless and take home pay scarce. Remember the song "Sixteen Tons" that Tennessee Ernie Ford used to sing: You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St Peter don't you call me "cause I can't go- I owe my soul to the company store". It was the way of life for generations of coal miners. The companies first used books of paper coupons and then issued tokens. They were made from aluminum, copper, brass, paper, fiber, bronze, nickel, wood and zinc. Most metal tokens were punched with the initial letter of the town in which it was used. The punch-out made it easier to recognize and sort the tokens.
Scrip is now a thing of the past. The company towns and company stores are fading fast. Most are gone. The scrip remains to tell the story.
Contributed by Jack Chapman Shady Spring, WV
The New River and Pocahontas numbered their stores with cut-out figures in the order in which the stores opened, ranging from Store # 11 at Berwind to Store # 29 at Minden. N.R. & P. stamped the old Low Moor store numbers on scrip pierced with the Berwind-White number. Thus we see scrip for N.R. & P. Store No. 9 Kay Moor (K1B) with a "26" cut-out and Store No. 11 Garten (which replaced Low Moor Store # 11 at K1T) with a "27" cut-out. No other N.R. & P. scrip has the store number stamped on the tokens. The signature, on the front of the scrip is that of Ward W. Crist the general manager of The Berwind-White Coal Corporation. N.R.& P. scrip is very scarce.
Metal Scrip from other Fayette County N.R. & P. Stores Contributed by Joe Feazell
During " World War II " metal scrip was phased out and the Company Stores starting issuing Credit Books (Scrip Books) The New River Pocahontas Stores issued these in denominations of: $2 - $5 - $10 - $20 & $25
Contributed by Joe Feazell & Kevin Andersen
SCRIP
In the early years, most coal mines in the state were located in remote areas, away from the center of commerce. U.S. Currency, therefore, was difficult to keep on hand, and many companies chose instead to issue scrip tokens as payment for wages. It is conjectured that the first scrip issuer in West Virginia was the Pioneer Coal Company, incorporated in 1855 at Campbell's Creek near Charleston. The use of scrip rapidly spread to other industries throughout the country, and tokens stated as early as the 1880s and 1890's have been found by collectors. Scrip continued to be used into the 1950's.
The coal mines in coal camps were dependent on the company owned store for their basic needs of life. Scrip tokens could be exchanged at the company stores for food, clothing, household supplies, and the like. Payment by scrip served a dual purpose. The miner could get wages in advance of his regular paycheck, and he did not have to borrow money or charge items at the store. The company in turn did not need to keep extensive charge account records, nor were there difficult collection problems involved.
It was easy to identify the scrip issued by an individual company, for each company designed its tokens to be unique by virtue of size, shape, or brand. A few companies dated their scrip, but it was more common to change the token=s size, shape, or brand at certain intervals. This allowed the company to reissue its scrip occasionally and also discouraged counterfeiting.
New River and Pocahontas Coal Company stores issued metal scrip for the mines to purchase items from the store. The “scrip book” was born in the early 1940’s from miners’ abuse of the in-store purchase rule. It began to be issued in metal form about 1920, most frequently in brass but also in copper and aluminum. During World War II, the tokens were produced in a fiber material in order to save metal for the war effort. The most common denominations were 25 cents, 50 cents and $1.00.
As with any system of this sort, certain abuses arose. Some companies paid their miners in scrip alone, forcing them to shop exclusively in the company store, where the goods were usually higher priced. Their tokens were then cashed at a discount of as much as 50 percent and the money spent for items that were not necessities. As a result of these abuses, some states outlawed the use of scrip. Economic conditions dictated the use of scrip to a large degree.
Industries in thirty-two states once issued scrip and there were more than ten thousand varieties of coal scrip alone. Scrip collecting has turned into an increasingly popular hobby.