I saw these coins during one episode of Antiques Roadshow. I liked them instantly, thought they were beautiful and somewhat special because of their special history. Thankfully, it´s easy to buy them from different outlets. The coins were used by coal miners as an advance on wages and goes by many names:
These tokens, also known as Scrip, Dingles, Clackers and many other names, were issued by coal companies as an advance on wages when miners needed to buy mining supplies for their work, food or necessities for their home, pay rent on the company owned home, obtain medical care or almost any other aspect of life in a company town. Of course, they could only be used at company stores, where prices tended to be high. The value of the scrip would then be deducted from a miners pay on payday. Miners could easily “owe their soul to the company store”. Metal tokens were widely used from the 1920’s to the 1950’s. During World War II fiber scrip was introduced in order to save metal. Most tokens had the name of the mine or store on it, and were often punched with the mine number or initials of the town.
5 cent clacker. The New River Company, Glen Jean, West Virginia. Via ebay user creelbm:
50 cent clacker. Citronelle Turpentine Company, Mobile County, Alabama. Via Collecting Alabama:
