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Scrip

Scrip is a substitute for legal tender, functioning as an alternative currency or credit instrument issued by private entities, redeemable primarily for goods, services, or wages within the issuer's controlled ecosystem.^[1]^[2] Commonly employed in isolated economic settings like company towns, scrip took forms such as paper notes, tokens, or vouchers, often denominated in values mirroring standard currency to facilitate transactions at affiliated outlets.^[3]^[4] Historically, company scrip dominated in 19th- and early 20th-century industries, particularly coal mining in Appalachia, where operators paid employees in non-cash promissory notes exchangeable solely at overpriced company stores stocked with essentials.^[3]^[5] This mechanism entrenched worker dependency, as inflated markups on goods frequently exceeded earnings, perpetuating debt cycles and curtailing labor mobility by tying families to employer housing and provisions.^[6]^[3] Critics highlighted how scrip enabled exploitation, with companies profiting doubly from production and retail while evading competitive wage pressures or cash liquidity demands.^[6] During economic crises, such as the Great Depression, variants like stamp scrip emerged in communities to stimulate velocity by imposing demurrage fees—small stamps affixed periodically to validate notes—effectively taxing hoarding to boost local circulation.^[7] Though innovative, these systems underscored scrip's role as a pragmatic yet precarious hedge against monetary scarcity, distinct from sovereign currency due to inherent redeemability limits and issuer discretion.^[7] In contemporary contexts, scrip analogs persist in loyalty points, gift cards, and proprietary vouchers, though regulated to prevent historical abuses.^[1]

Definition and Characteristics

Etymology and Terminology

The term "scrip" derives from Middle English scrippe, denoting a small bag or purse, which traces to Old French escrepe or escharpe and ultimately Old Norse skreppa, referring to a pouch or wallet used by pilgrims or travelers. In its financial sense, emerging around the 1610s, it shortened from "script" to signify a small written slip or certificate entitling the holder to receive goods, services, or other value, distinct from mere scrawled notes. This evolution reflects scrip's role as a tangible voucher, often issued in lieu of coinage in constrained economic settings.^[8] Scrip functions as a substitute for legal tender, typically comprising certificates or tokens redeemable for specified commodities, labor entitlements, or land grants, rather than universally accepted money. Redeemable scrip, such as company-issued notes exchangeable for merchandise at affiliated stores, contrasts with non-redeemable variants that circulate solely within defined networks without guaranteed conversion to specie. Unlike fiat currency, which governments declare as legal tender with intrinsic value backed by sovereign authority, scrip originates from non-state issuers like enterprises or communities, positioning it as private quasi-money prone to contextual limitations in acceptability and convertibility. It also diverges from securities, which confer ownership rights in capital assets rather than immediate exchange value.^[9]^[10] Early terminological use of scrip in American contexts dates to the 18th century, when colonial administrators and traders employed certificate-like instruments for labor payments in remote frontiers lacking circulating specie, predating formalized industrial applications. These precursors emphasized scrip's utility as provisional credit amid monetary shortages, though colonial bills of credit—sometimes retroactively termed scrip—blurred lines with quasi-public issuance until regulatory curbs like the 1764 Currency Act restricted such proxies.^[11]

Fundamental Features and Legal Status

Scrip operates as a non-fiat medium of exchange, typically issued by private entities such as companies or communities in lieu of official currency, and redeemable solely at the issuer's designated venues for specific goods, services, or cash equivalents.^[1] It manifests in forms like metal tokens, paper certificates, or ledger-based credits, functioning as bearer instruments that circulate within confined networks rather than broadly as legal tender.^[12] Unlike commodity-backed money, scrip derives value from the issuer's promise of redemption, frequently linked to labor credits or anticipated future acceptance, with supply tightly controlled by the issuer to match issuance against obligations like wages or debts.^[13] This structure enforces limited geographic and functional circulation, as holders must return to the issuer for fulfillment, reducing external convertibility and exposing the system to risks from issuer over-issuance without independent backing.^[1] Legally, scrip's status has varied by jurisdiction, balancing voluntary private arrangements against protections for wage earners. In the United States, the Supreme Court in Knoxville Iron Co. v. Harbison (1901) upheld a Tennessee statute mandating that scrip issued as wages be redeemable in cash at full face value upon demand, affirming its permissibility when employees voluntarily accept it without coercion, while invalidating discounted redemptions that effectively bound workers to company stores.^[14] This ruling established that scrip does not inherently violate due process or peonage prohibitions under the Thirteenth Amendment if contractual consent is genuine, allowing its use as a flexible payment mechanism subject to state oversight for fairness.^[15] In contrast, European nations, particularly the United Kingdom, imposed stricter prohibitions through "truck acts" beginning in the 19th century. The Truck Act of 1831 required wages in certain trades to be paid in legal coinage, explicitly banning payment in goods, tokens, or scrip to prevent employer exploitation via captive markets.^[16] Subsequent amendments, such as the 1887 Act, expanded these restrictions across more industries, rendering scrip issuance for wages unlawful unless fully convertible to cash without penalty, a framework that persisted until partial repeals in the 20th century for non-wage contexts.^[17] These laws reflected broader causal concerns over economic dependency, prioritizing wage mobility over issuer convenience.^[16]

Historical Currency Scrip

Company Scrip in Industrial Contexts

Company scrip emerged as a practical payment mechanism in late 19th-century United States extractive industries, including coal mining and lumber operations, where remote locations hindered access to banks and circulating currency. Following the Civil War, rapid expansion of coal production in Appalachia and logging in forested regions relied on scrip to sustain payrolls in isolated camps and company towns lacking financial infrastructure.^[5]^[18] By the early 20th century, such systems predominated in southern West Virginia coalfields, where nearly 80 percent of miners lived in company housing by 1922, often compensated via scrip tied to employer facilities.^[19] Scrip functioned as a substitute for legal tender, issued by employers as metal tokens, paper coupons, or credit slips in lieu of or alongside cash wages, redeemable primarily at monopolistic company stores for essentials like food, tools, and housing rents.^[12]^[6] In lumber camps, scrip extended to barter for timber products alongside merchandise, accommodating seasonal work in frontier areas without nearby markets.^[20] While stores frequently applied markups—attributed to high transport costs and lack of competition—scrip often represented advances on biweekly or monthly cash settlements, negotiable at face value with third parties or banks when feasible.^[21] Labor disputes, including union campaigns against perceived indebtedness traps, prompted regulatory shifts; West Virginia statutes restricted scrip to forms explicitly promising redemption in lawful money, curbing non-convertible issuance amid mine wars.^[22]^[23] Federally, the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act prohibited scrip as wage payment, mandating currency to ensure worker liquidity, though some operators persisted until enforcement tightened post-World War II, with scrip issuance dropping to 17 percent of surveyed mines by 1947.^[6]^[24]

Stamp Scrip in Depressions and Crises

Stamp scrip emerged as an experimental currency during the Great Depression to counteract liquidity shortages and hoarding, which exacerbated deflationary spirals following the Federal Reserve's monetary contraction in the early 1930s.^[7] Unlike traditional scrip, stamp scrip incorporated a demurrage fee mechanism inspired by economist Silvio Gesell, requiring holders to affix postage stamps monthly equivalent to 1% of the note's face value to maintain validity, thereby incentivizing rapid circulation over retention.^[7] Yale economist Irving Fisher championed this approach in his 1932 pamphlet Stamp Scrip, arguing it could restore velocity—depressed to about one-third of normal levels—and stimulate spending without relying on federal relief, positioning it as a localized, market-oriented response to the crisis.^[25]^[7] The most notable early implementation occurred in Wörgl, Austria, in July 1932, where Mayor Michael Unterguggenberger issued 32,000 schillings worth of stamp scrip backed by a municipal bank deposit, redeemable at 98% in official schillings to cover the stamp costs.^[26] This funded public works like road repairs and bridge construction, employing hundreds amid 30% local unemployment; the scrip circulated rapidly due to the penalty, financing projects valued at over 100,000 schillings while official currency stagnated.^[27] Accounts report reduced unemployment and increased local economic activity, with the scrip achieving higher turnover than standard money, though aggregate town income fell slightly from 1931 levels due to broader depression effects.^[28] The experiment ended in November 1933 when the Austrian Supreme Court ruled it illegal, citing central bank monopoly on currency issuance, preventing wider adoption despite initial successes.^[7] In the United States, stamp scrip trials began in Hawarden, Iowa, in late 1932, initiated by merchant Charles Zylstra in a town of about 3,000 residents facing depleted local funds.^[29] The city issued $300 in $1 certificates to unemployed workers for public improvements, requiring monthly stamps; this spurred short-term hiring for tasks like street paving but saw limited circulation due to infrequent stamping (monthly rather than weekly), reducing the urgency to spend.^[7]^[30] Similar efforts in dozens of communities, from California to Oklahoma, provided temporary employment boosts and higher local velocities—often 1.3 to 1.6 times per period compared to stagnant official money—but faced scalability constraints from legal challenges, varying designs, and reliance on small-scale backing, ultimately fading as New Deal programs expanded.^[31]^[32] These cases demonstrated stamp scrip's potential for localized velocity enhancement amid monetary contraction but highlighted vulnerabilities to regulatory intervention and design flaws.^[7]

Land Scrip Systems

United States Implementation

In the United States, land scrip functioned as transferable certificates entitling holders to specific quantities of public domain land, primarily to incentivize military service, educational institutions, and infrastructure development without immediate cash payments. Early implementations began with Revolutionary War veterans, where Congress authorized bounty land warrants under acts passed in 1788, with supplements in 1803 and 1806, granting acreage in the Northwest Territory or Military District of Ohio based on rank and service duration.^[33] These warrants, often sold by veterans unable to relocate, fueled initial speculation but distributed over 1.2 million acres by the early 19th century.^[33] The system expanded significantly with the War of 1812 through the Act of March 3, 1812, which provided 160 acres to privates and non-commissioned officers who served to war's end, with larger grants up to 640 acres for officers, redeemable in the western territories.^[34] Subsequent acts in 1819, 1828, and 1850 extended eligibility to shorter-service veterans and heirs, culminating in the 1855 General Land Law that standardized 160-acre warrants for any federal military service since 1790, regardless of rank.^[35] By 1855, military bounty warrants had conveyed approximately 60 million acres, primarily in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, where cash auctions proved insufficient to attract settlers.^[33] The Morrill Land-Grant Act of July 2, 1862, allocated 30,000 acres of federal land scrip per senator and representative to each state for establishing agricultural and mechanical colleges, yielding about 17.4 million acres total, with proceeds funding institutions like what became land-grant universities.^[36] States received scrip redeemable in western public lands, often leading to sales that generated endowments, though delays in land surveys and market fluctuations affected revenues.^[37] Railroad subsidies via the Pacific Railway Act of July 1, 1862, granted the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads 10 alternating sections (typically 6,400 acres per mile on each side of the track) in a 20-mile swath, expandable to 40 miles if adjacent lands sold slowly, contributing to over 130 million acres transferred to railroads nationwide by the 1870s.^[38] These grants, structured as scrip-like entitlements, accelerated transcontinental construction but invited speculation, as companies resold lands to settlers, generating profits exceeding construction costs in some cases.^[38] Overall, U.S. land scrip systems facilitated westward expansion by enabling credit-based claims amid scarce currency and high transport costs, distributing tens of millions of acres that cash systems alone could not have settled as rapidly.^[33] Speculation was prevalent, with warrants trading at discounts on eastern markets, yet empirical records show it spurred migration and development in frontier regions, without the systemic title disputes seen elsewhere.^[39] By the 1890s, exhaustion of scrip programs shifted policy toward cash sales and homesteading, marking the close of this incentive era.^[33]

Canadian Métis and Dominion Lands

Following the passage of the Manitoba Act on July 15, 1870, the Canadian federal government committed to allocating 1.4 million acres of land to the children of Métis heads of families residing in Manitoba at that time, with each eligible child entitled to 240 acres via scrip certificates redeemable for surveyed Crown land.^[40] This provision under section 31 aimed to extinguish Métis aboriginal title in the newly created province while providing individual allotments, though heads of families received separate money scrip valued at $160 rather than land.^[41] Implementation began slowly, with scrip commissions processing claims amid administrative delays and eligibility disputes, ultimately issuing certificates that could be exchanged at Dominion Lands offices but often required relocation from traditional occupancy areas.^[42] Under the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, which governed western settlement, Métis scrip issuance extended beyond Manitoba to the Northwest Territories starting in 1885, with commissions operating through the 1920s to address claims from Métis families displaced by expansion.^[43] These scrip allotments, typically 160 or 240 acres per individual, were intended as compensation for undefined aboriginal rights but lacked protections against immediate sale, allowing redemption anywhere in open Dominion lands subject to surveys.^[44] By the early 1900s, over 10,000 Métis scrip certificates had been distributed across regions like present-day Saskatchewan, Alberta, and beyond, facilitating federal control over vast prairie territories for homesteading and railway development.^[45] Widespread fraud plagued the system, as speculators targeted impoverished Métis holders, purchasing scrip at severe discounts—often fractions of its face value equivalent to land prices exceeding $10 per acre—for resale to settlers or investors.^[46] Government investigations, including scrip commissions and a 1921 Department of Justice memorandum, documented irregularities such as forged affidavits, proxy claims, and organized buying rings, yet responses were limited; statutes of limitations on fraud prosecutions were shortened to three years in some cases, curtailing legal recourse.^[47] Federal officials, prioritizing rapid land clearance for European immigration and infrastructure like the Canadian Pacific Railway, implicitly tolerated these practices, with minimal land reclamation despite confirmed abuses.^[48] The empirical outcome was profound Métis dispossession: most recipients, facing immediate economic pressures from disrupted buffalo economies and lack of farming capital, sold scrip for cash survival rather than redeeming for homesteads, resulting in widespread landlessness by the early 20th century.^[49] This individual-based extinguishment, while enabling settler integration and rail corridor security, inefficiently transferred title without communal safeguards, contributing to Métis reliance on marginal road allowance settlements and intergenerational poverty.^[50] Supreme Court rulings, such as Manitoba Metis Federation v. Canada (2013), later affirmed the Crown's fiduciary lapses in protecting these interests, underscoring systemic flaws over equitable resolution.^[42]

Modern and Corporate Applications

Community and Local Currency Variants

Community and local currency variants of scrip developed primarily after World War II as volunteer-driven systems aimed at fostering economic resilience in specific locales, often in response to perceived vulnerabilities from national monetary policies and globalization-induced capital outflows. These initiatives typically operate outside central banking frameworks, using mutual credit ledgers, time-based valuation, or partial backing by national fiat to facilitate barter-like exchanges restricted to participants within a defined community. Proponents argue they reduce "leakage" of spending to external economies by incentivizing local transactions, though empirical evidence highlights constraints such as small scale and dependency on convertibility to official currencies for sustained use.^[51]^[52] One prominent example is Ithaca Hours, introduced in Ithaca, New York, in 1991 by activist Paul Glover as a time-based currency where one Hour equates to one hour of basic labor, initially valued at $10 per Hour to approximate local wage rates. By the end of its first year, approximately 20 businesses and individuals participated, with notes printed to enable exchanges for goods and services like plumbing or haircuts, explicitly designed to circulate within the community and avoid national debt-backed money. Total value introduced reached about $110,000, but circulation remained modest, peaking below $150,000 in equivalent terms amid challenges like legal recognition and participant retention.^[53]^[54] In the United Kingdom, Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) emerged in the 1980s, with the first scheme launching in Norwich in 1986, followed by rapid proliferation to around 350 groups by 1995. These operate via mutual credit accounts where members log debits and credits for services without interest charges, restricting trades to local participants and emphasizing non-monetary social bonds over profit. By 1999, 303 UK LETS schemes encompassed 21,800 members, generating trades equivalent to £1.4 million, yet overall volumes were dwarfed by national GDP and often supplemented by fiat for larger needs.^[55]^[51]^[56] BerkShares, launched in 2006 in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, represents a hybrid approach with paper notes backed by U.S. dollars held in bank reserves, redeemable at a 5% discount to encourage recirculation rather than immediate conversion. Exchanges occur at 1:1 parity with dollars at participating outlets, aiming to capture local spending from tourism and retail, with cumulative transactions reaching $10 million by 2021 across five branches. However, a 2020 econometric analysis found no statistically significant effects on business revenues or broader county economic indicators, attributing limited influence to the currency's scale—under 1% of local GDP—and reliance on federal dollar backing, which ties it closely to mainstream finance.^[57]^[52]^[58]

Internal Corporate and Gift Card Systems

In contemporary corporate environments, internal scrip systems function as tokenized or point-based mechanisms for allocating non-monetary resources, such as perks or facilities access, thereby enabling firms to optimize liquidity without direct cash expenditures. These systems often employ digital ledgers to track usage, mirroring historical scrip dividends where companies like Coca-Cola in the 1980s issued stock equivalents to shareholders to preserve cash reserves during expansion.^[59] Modern variants prioritize hierarchical control, with management dictating redemption options to align employee incentives with profit goals, distinct from egalitarian community models.^[59] Gift cards represent a prevalent form of private scrip targeted at consumers, functioning as closed-loop currencies redeemable solely at the issuing entity's outlets, akin to historical company stores but adapted for retail efficiency. In the United States, the gift card market exceeded $200 billion in sales by 2023, driven by holiday gifting and promotional use.^[60] Issuers like Starbucks maintain closed-loop systems where cards hold stored value for specific goods, enforcing brand loyalty through restricted convertibility. Breakage—unredeemed balances—typically ranges from 10% to 20% of issued value, generating unrestrained profit for issuers once redemption patterns stabilize under accounting standards like ASC 606.^[61] ^[62] This for-profit dynamic underscores scrip's role in deferred revenue recognition, where issuers benefit from float interest and forfeited funds without equivalent obligations in open currencies. Post-2020, traditional scrip revivals have been minimal amid fiat dominance, but blockchain pilots have explored tokenized loyalty scrip for enhanced tracking and interoperability. For instance, Japan's Loyalty Marketing initiated a 2024 pilot converting Ponta Points to blockchain tokens for 30,000 users, aiming to reduce fraud and enable cross-brand redemptions while retaining corporate oversight.^[63] These experiments test efficiency gains in data integrity and transaction speed, yet adoption remains limited by regulatory hurdles and integration costs, preserving scrip's niche in controlled, profit-oriented ecosystems over broad monetary substitution.^[64]

Economic Implications and Debates

Operational Advantages and Market Incentives

In isolated economic environments such as remote mining towns, scrip facilitated liquidity by serving as a medium of exchange where formal banking infrastructure was absent or impractical, enabling workers to access goods and services without relying on distant cash economies.^[65] This system minimized transaction costs associated with cash handling and transport, as scrip could be issued directly against labor output and redeemed locally, thereby supporting operational continuity in areas with high logistical barriers.^[22] Scrip's structure aligned incentives between employers and employees by recirculating value within the company's ecosystem, reducing moral hazard risks inherent in fiat wages that could be spent externally and diminish firm viability. By limiting redemption primarily to company stores or services, scrip encouraged spending that bolstered the issuer's revenue streams, effectively tying worker compensation to the enterprise's sustainability and fostering equilibria where productivity gains were retained internally rather than leaked through capital outflows.^[1] Empirical observations from pre-regulatory coal communities indicate that this recirculation strengthened cash flows and sustained operations, as funds remained available for reinvestment rather than exiting the local system.^[22] Market mechanisms within scrip systems allowed pricing to reflect real costs, such as transportation premiums in remote locales, where store markups compensated for supply chain expenses without distorting broader currency supplies. In the Wörgl experiment of 1932–1933, stamp scrip designed to depreciate if held increased circulation velocity by factors of 9 to 14 relative to the national schilling, stimulating local economic activity and employment without inducing inflation, as rapid turnover absorbed the demurrage effect.^[66]^[67] This demonstrated scrip's capacity to enhance monetary efficiency in constrained settings, countering instability concerns through velocity-driven stability rather than hoarding.^[7]

Criticisms, Abuses, and Empirical Realities

Company scrip systems in 19th- and early 20th-century industrial settings, particularly in U.S. coal mining regions, frequently engendered debt peonage, where workers received wage advances in non-transferable tokens redeemable only at employer-owned stores charging prices 10-50% above market rates due to monopolistic control.^[6] ^[21] This structure locked miners into cycles of indebtedness, as scrip deductions for rent, tools, and goods often exceeded earnings, deterring job mobility and suppressing demands for higher cash wages.^[4] Empirical analyses of Appalachian coal towns indicate that while outright overpricing varied—some stores matched external prices to retain labor—scrip's exclusivity amplified dependency, contributing to widespread poverty and labor unrest, including the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, where 10,000 miners struck against company dominance over housing and commerce.^[68] ^[21] Such abuses prompted federal intervention, culminating in the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act's ban on scrip payments, reflecting congressional recognition of its role in perpetuating exploitation.^[6] Stamp scrip initiatives during economic crises, such as the Great Depression, aimed to accelerate velocity through expiration penalties but delivered inconsistent outcomes, with many U.S. experiments collapsing due to hoarding, counterfeiting, and insufficient adoption beyond local confines.^[69] In places like Iowa towns issuing stamped notes in 1933, initial circulation boosted public works spending—e.g., road repairs funded by scrip payrolls—but programs faltered as federal relief programs displaced them and participants redeemed for dollars prematurely, undermining the velocity mechanism Irving Fisher advocated.^[70] Critics, including Fisher himself, faulted undated variants for failing to enforce spending, while broader empirical reviews show stamp scrip provided transient liquidity in isolated communities (e.g., doubling transaction speeds in some cases) but proved ineffective against systemic deflation, as evidenced by its abandonment post-1934 without reversing national unemployment rates hovering above 20%.^[7] ^[69] Land scrip distributions, intended for veterans, railroads, and Indigenous groups like Canada's Métis under the 1870 Manitoba Act, were rife with speculation and fraud, as transferable certificates enabled rapid resale at premiums, diverting allocations from intended recipients.^[71] In the U.S., military bounty land scrip from the 19th century fueled market manipulations, with speculators like those in the 1830s Illinois canal scrip fraud acquiring warrants at discounts and lobbying for favorable legislation, eroding public trust and inflating frontier land prices by factors of 5-10 times original values.^[72] Government records confirm systemic corruption, including forged Métis scrip claims into the 1920s, where non-Indigenous buyers exploited illiterate recipients, resulting in over 80% of scrip alienated from original holders within years.^[71] Empirical patterns reveal scrip's negotiability incentivized absentee ownership over settlement, contributing to land concentration—e.g., universities amassing millions of acres via coerced Indigenous scrip sales amid 19th-century violence—rather than equitable distribution.^[73] Contemporary corporate scrip analogs, such as gift cards and internal vouchers, draw scrutiny for "breakage"—unredeemed balances yielding issuers pure profit margins estimated at $21 billion annually in the U.S. as of 2022, with 47% of cards partially or fully unused due to expiration or loss.^[74] These systems impose hidden fees (e.g., dormancy charges after 12 months in many states) and lack fraud protections akin to debit cards, facilitating scams where criminals tamper with displays to drain values, contributing to billions in annual losses without equivalent regulatory oversight.^[75] ^[76] While proponents cite deferred revenue benefits, critics highlight ethical lapses in profiting from consumer inertia, as unredeemed funds—often 1-2% of issuance per card—subsidize retailers without delivering intended economic stimulus, mirroring historical scrip's extraction of value from captive users.^[77]

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... Manitoba Act of 1870.2 Manitoba. Métis “children-of-heads-of-family” were issued 240 acres of land, and “heads-of-family” were issued $160 in the form of scrip.
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https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/12888/index.do
[43]
Land Grants of Western Canada, 1870-1930 - bac-lac.gc.ca
Aug 25, 2021 · This page provides historical information about settlement in Western Canada. It also explains the system that was put in place to grant ...
[44]
Scrip - Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada
Dominion Lands Act: The Dominion Lands Act became law in 1872. The act provided free homesteads to those who applied to settle on farm and ranch land in Western ...Missing: extension 1920s
[45]
Introduction - Métis Scrip Records - Library and Archives Canada
Mar 1, 2012 · The following guide was compiled to assist researchers who wish to consult federal records relating to the Métis scrip commissions.
[46]
Métis Scrip | Our Legacy
A Department of Justice memorandum written in 1921 clearly implicated the process of fraud within speculation of Métis scrip. In 1921, an amendment was made to ...Missing: discounts | Show results with:discounts
[47]
[PDF] 1885 scrip coupon for $160. Saskatchewan Archives Board, E11.
Clearly, speculation and fraud occurred, and it occurred to the detriment of the Métis. Now, years later, the government eliminated any option for recourse by ...Missing: discounts | Show results with:discounts<|separator|>
[48]
[PDF] MÉTIS SCRIP IN ALBERTA
Aug 10, 2018 · 6 Scrip coupons could then be used at the Dominion Lands Office to select and acquire land. 6 Frank J. Tough and Kathleen Dimmer, “Great Frauds ...Missing: discounts | Show results with:discounts
[49]
From scrip to road allowances: Canada's complicated history with ...
Feb 17, 2022 · As a result of scrip, many Métis were landless. They had to improvise, and soon Métis people were building small, tight-knit communities along ...
[50]
The Sorry Legacy of Métis Scrip - YEG Tracks in Time
Land scrip was issued in allotments of 80, 160 and 240 acres. Whether we are talking money or land, scrip was basically an easy and cheap way for the federal ...
[51]
Local Exchange and Trading Schemes (LETS)
The 303 LETS operating in the UK have 21 800 members who sold goods and services to each other in 1999 worth the equivalent of £1.4m using local currencies ...
[52]
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3732903
[53]
Ithaca HOURS: What It is, How It Works, FAQs - Investopedia
Ithaca HOURS is a local or community currency established and launched by activist Paul Glover in 1991 with a total of $110,000 introduced into circulation.Missing: history empirical
[54]
[PDF] Ithaca HOURS | Karl Shell
Ithaca HOURS is a local, taxable currency, worth $10 each, that began in 1991, and is not backed by national debt.Missing: circulation empirical
[55]
[PDF] a review of local exchange and trading schemes (lets)
The first UK LETS was set up in Norwich in 1986 and there was a rapid expansion of schemes in the 1990s so that by 1995 there were 350. However, the number of ...
[56]
[PDF] constraints on the development of Local Exchange Trading Schemes
LETS currencies have three distinctive features: first, their use is normally restricted to members of the local scheme; secondly, no interest is charged on ...
[57]
My town in Massachusetts has been using its own local currency for ...
a number the Schumacher Center hopes ...Missing: impact studies
[58]
Money is money: The economic impact of BerkShares - ResearchGate
The results suggest that BerkShares has not had a discernible impact either directly on businesses or indirectly on local economic conditions. Additionally, ...
[59]
https://kurums.com/modern-business-scrip-power-potential/
[60]
https://www.statista.com/statistics/671202/us-gift-card-sales/
[61]
Accounting for Gift Card Sales - Withum
Aug 6, 2019 · Getting back to those gift cards sold in 2017, more than a year ago. It has been reported that approximately 10 to 20 percent of gift cards ...
[62]
Gift Accounting Meaning: A Guide to Gift Cards - HubiFi
Industry data suggests that 10-20% of gift cards go unredeemed, which can serve as a helpful benchmark.
[63]
Can Blockchain Make Loyalty Marketing Programs Better?
Aug 21, 2025 · In December 2024, Loyalty Marketing launched a pilot program for Ponta Points, onboarding an initial 30,000 customers to a blockchain-based ...Missing: scrip 2020
[64]
Loyalty Programs Are Broken — Blockchain Is The Solution - Forbes
Jun 24, 2025 · By providing a decentralized, enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure, qiibee empowers brands to tokenize their loyalty points, transforming ...Missing: scrip 2020
[65]
Free Market Money in Coal-Mining Communities - FEE.org
While scrip was usually specialized to one company in a particular community, many coal mining companies had mines in different regions. Their scrip was good ...Missing: prevalence | Show results with:prevalence
[66]
The Free Economy Experiment of Woergl (1932-1933)
In order to avoid buying the stamps to compensate for the shrinkage, the AB notes are passed on quickly and circulate 9 to 10 times faster than the national ...Missing: scrip velocity
[67]
The Wörgl experiment
May 6, 2023 · Michael Unterguggenberger knew better, the velocity of money had increased and his Wörgl money was working. Wörgl money was a stamp script money ...
[68]
What Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising ...
Aug 25, 2021 · Miners then often lived in company towns, paying rent for company-owned shacks and buying groceries from the company-owned store with “scrip.
[69]
Stamp Scrip in the Great Depression: Lessons for Community ...
May 29, 2012 · Although the results of many stamp scrip experiments were disappointing, the best schemes provided some communities with benefits during the ...Missing: criticisms | Show results with:criticisms
[70]
[PDF] Iowa Stamp Scrip: Economic Experimentation in Iowa Communities ...
Irving Fisher, Stamp Scrip (New York, 1933). Fisher's earlier (and more fa- mous) work, Booms and Depressions (New York, 1932), includes an account of.<|separator|>
[71]
Distribution of Metis Scrip in Association with Manitoba Act - Land ...
The government was aware that land speculation was occurring and that land scrip ... Scrip fraud and speculation. Resources. Indian Affairs Record Group 10 (RG10) ...Missing: corruption | Show results with:corruption
[72]
Lincoln and the First Corruption of Illinois - Michigan Publishing
Apr 8, 2022 · Lincoln and the First Corruption of Illinois · How to Cite · Downloads · The Canal Scrip Fraud · The Macalister-Stebbins Bond Scandal · Lincoln Takes ...
[73]
The great university land-grab
Apr 6, 2020 · 52 American universities built their fortunes using 11 million acres of Indian land – signed over amid violence, corruption and coercion.<|separator|>
[74]
The billion dollar reason you shouldn't buy gift cards for employees
Oct 21, 2022 · Over $21 billion in gift cards are unused, with 47% of owners losing out. Many hold onto them, and 25% misplace them, making it a bad choice.
[75]
Why gift card fraud slips through the cracks of America's banking ...
Aug 25, 2024 · But by then, the industry was moving to a new payment innovation—gift cards, served up without the fraud protections for consumers offered by ...
[76]
Gift Card Crime Wave Demands Action - Denise Ricciardi
Feb 24, 2025 · Gift card tampering is a growing, organized crime linked to money laundering, human trafficking, and drug distribution, with current laws not ...Missing: scrip criticisms
[77]
Unredeemed gift cards and the problem of not providing customers ...
Aug 9, 2025 · Findings – The paper finds that claims that retailers get “money for nothing” on unredeemed gift cards are illusionary. The actual costs of non‐ ...<|control11|><|separator|>