Bob Hewey writes:

You may ask, "why were there special kinds of money used in prisons, jail and reformatories?" There aregood reasons not to allow legal tender coins and bills in the hands of prisoners. The ready availability ofsuch currency could encourage bribery, extortion, gambling and facilitate acquisition of contraband andescapes. Still, there needs to be some type of money so that inmates can purchase discretionary items,such as snacks, tobacco, toiletries and reading and writing supplies. This catalog will focus on the tokencoinage and scrip issued to address these problems in the United States and Canada.

According to our research, the first significant numismatic look at this subject is contained in an articlepublished in 1960 by Jack F. Burns, Research Associate, Section of Coins and Medals, CarnegieMuseum. More recently, Jerry Zara's Prison Tokens and Medals of the United States was published byPaul Cunningham in 1992. This 162-page hardcover book provided the most comprehensive look at thetopic to date, and this new catalog makes occasional reference to Zara's work and cross-references ourlistings to his numbers where possible.

The first widely used alternative currency in prisons and jails were tokens. While these reduced thechance of bribery of correction officers and hindered escape, they did not eliminate their use for gambling,contraband and extortion. To counter this, institutions would put limits on the value of such tokens that theinmate could draw from an account or have in his or her possession. Other than tokens, coupons issuedin booklets or attached as tear-offs to cards, punch cards and credit slips have been used in prisons toaddress the purchasing needs of the inmates. Now, as with the transportation industry, I'm sure thatelectronic cards have come into use, replacing other forms of scrip. But the scrip currency of our penalinstitutions makes an interesting and challenging field for collecting.

There were a number of at-risk youth and truant school institutions set up for delinquent or otherwisewayward boys and girls. Those that were part of the State or Provincial Board of Corrections are includedin the general listing. However, there were private, non-official institutions, and we have listed these in aseparate section. One of the best known of these institutions is Boys Town founded in 1917 in Nebraska.It issued tokens for its Student Bank in denominations from 5 (cents) to 5.00 (dollars). Another institutionwas the George Junior Republic, first established in 1895 in Freeville, NY. Other similar "Junior Republic"institutions followed, many issuing tokens and/or paper scrip. Many of the tokens issued by the GeorgeJunior Republics had dates of issue, ranging from 1896 to 1946.

Newman Numismatic Portal Project Coordinator Len Augsburger adds:

Bob adds:

To read or download the book on NNP:
Prison Tokens, Coupons and Scrip of the United States and Canada(https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/589917)