Paper - Good for five cents in trade

Trade tokens on paper — sometimes called "due bills" or scrip — were issued by individual merchants, lumber camps, mining operations, and company stores throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, typically to retain customer spending within a closed economy. A five-cent denomination suggests petty retail use, the kind of scrip handed back as change when coin was short or when a proprietor wanted to ensure repeat business.

Without issuer identification, precise dating is impossible. The near-square format is unusual and may indicate a cut-down or trimmed example.