Venkatesh Rao@vgr·Jul 3, 2015Replying to @pmarca@pmarca I think I've seen it mentioned in multiple robber baron era books. Vanderbilt bio, Lind's land of promise...324
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec·Jul 3, 2015Replying to @vgr@vgr @pmarca scrip currency (including tobacco receipts) was more prevalent during colonial times23
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec·Jul 3, 2015Replying to @prchovanec@vgr @pmarca Navigation Acts restricted export of specie to colonies, and forbid colonies from printing own currency (Catch-22)11
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec·Jul 3, 2015Replying to @prchovanec@vgr @pmarca so colonies had to make due with combination of scrip and foreign coins (often Spanish dollars)11
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec·Jul 3, 2015Replying to @prchovanec@vgr @pmarca in early 19th Century US banks could issue their own notes so lack of currency was not a significant issue (quite the contrary)12
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec·Jul 3, 2015Replying to @prchovanec@vgr @pmarca crop receipts served as a kind of parallel currency in the mid-19th century, to cover seasonal tightness due to farming cycle745
terrψ@sandcastler1·Jul 4, 2015Replying to @prchovanec@prchovanec @pmarca @vgr Public transit uses scrip in the form of: tokens, pass cards, tickets, and boarding passes.1
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec·Jul 4, 2015Replying to @sandcastler1@sandcastler1 @pmarca @vgr yes, but they are not always transferable (between users) or exchangeable for other value.2
Venkatesh Rao@vgrReplying to @prchovanec@prchovanec @sandcastler1 @pmarca Actually they sort of are. They can turn into underground currencies. Food stamps do that. Many examples.12:10 AM · Jul 4, 2015
Patrick Chovanec@prchovanec·Jul 4, 2015Replying to @vgr@vgr @sandcastler1 @pmarca the key word in my reply was "always". It's a question of degree.1