Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Rare Great Depression Scrip signed by Charles Edison issued due to Bank Closings - 1933

Historic Derpession Scrip (low serial #000016) from Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated issued in 1933. This historic check has a vignette of Thomas A. Edison and was handsigned by Charles Edison. This item is over 75 years old.

Scrip is any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrips were created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money is unavailable, such as remote coal towns or occupied countries in war time. Other forms of scrip include subway tokens, arcade tokens and tickets, and "points" on some websites.

On March 06, 1933, President Roosevelt officially signed a Proclamation declaring a Bank Holiday. All the banks in the nation were closed. The Bank Holiday was to go from Monday, March 6th to Thursday, March 9th. No bank could transact any banking business except by permission of the Secretary of the Treasury. The stock exchange was closed.

Thomas A. Edison, Inc. Depression Scrip was issued when the banks closed in 1933. They gave them to employees so they could them to buy goods until the banks reopened. This only lasted for a short period of time. This one is hand signed by Charles Edison, Thomas Edison's son and was for $2.00. There were very few of these issued by the comapny and this is the only example we have seen.

Depression scrip was used during the depression era (1930's) as a substitute for government issued currency. Because of the banks closing temporarily and the lack of physical currency, someone had to come up with another form of currency to keep the economy going and a way for trade to continue.