50 Cents - Deering Farms ND

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Script: Latin

Lettering:
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50c
In Merchandise

Comment

Also known as script, Deering Farms of Missouri [who later went one to form McCormick-Deering, the predecessor of International Harvester] used these tokens to pay their workers, rather than paying in legal (US-recognised) tender. These scripts would only be valid in the company store.

The process of paying workers in company script that could only be used to purchase goods provided by company-owned establishments (stores, restaurants, entertainment, and housing) was known to the workers as "double-dipping." This process of "scripting" workers prevented them from ever leaving to find other work, as any savings could only be used at the company store and thus non-transferable. US labour law prohibited script-only payments during New Deal Legislation. In modern America, script-equivalents are used as parts of benefit packages.