George's Creek Coal Company Scrip, 1 cent

Name/Title

George's Creek Coal Company Scrip, 1 cent

Entry/Object ID

KK.0169

Description

Hetzel 1311 (Logan) George's Creek Coal Company D1a

Collection

Company Scrip + Tokens

Mintage

Mint

Osborne Register Company

Manufacture Method

Struck

Coin Details

Obverse

Transcription

GEORGE'S CREEK COAL CO. INC / 1 / HETZEL, W. VA.

Reverse

Description

ORCO logo, patented

Issuing Authority

Osborne Register Company

Currency

Coal Company Scrip

Denomination

1 cent

Dimensions

Diameter

17 mm

Composition

Material

Nickel

Material Notes

Edkins (2014) lists the D1a as Nickel, but appears more like brass

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Archaeological Find

Notes

Found at a house site in mash branch which is the left hand fork below Ethel hollow.

Exhibition

Life in the Coal Camps

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Company Scrip In most coal operations, miners were not paid in US dollars, but rather in company money, called scrip. Usually scrip was only redeemable at the company store, preventing miners from spending money outside the company town. Although illegal in the state of West Virginia, most coal companies continued to use scrip to pay their miners until the 1950s. collection of Kenneth King