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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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Collectors Eye California IOUs

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(Newser) – California's recently issued IOUs are only the latest in a long history of dollar substitutes in America, the Wall Street Journal reports, and they're already being eyed by collectors of  temporary currency on everything from leather to plywood to old tires to clamshells. Schwarzenegger's scrip is plain in comparison to Depression relics like Minneapolis' "sauerkraut note," but the IOUs are unusual in that they're made out to individual creditors for specific amounts.

Since California plans to destroy them after redemption, they may be in short supply. "The people who got them probably aren't sitting around thinking, 'I'm going to save this for posterity,'" one political scientist says. "They're more likely thinking, 'How the hell am I going to cash this?'"

One of the first registered warrants, or IOUs, is seen after printing at the Controller's office in Sacramento, Calif. earlier this month.
One of the first registered warrants, or IOUs, is seen after printing at the Controller's office in Sacramento, Calif. earlier this month.   (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli )
Some California communities printed scrip notes on clamshells during the Great Depression.
Some California communities printed scrip notes on clamshells during the Great Depression.   (©quinn.anya)
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Every piece tells a story. It represents a piece of social history.
- Neil Shafer, author of the Standard Catalog of Depression Scrip of the United States

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TerrifiedCitizen
Jul 25, 09 4:29 PM CDT
Maybe they should be of interest to the other type of collector as well; the debt collector. Reply
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ClearSight
Jul 26, 09 8:23 AM CDT
LOL, TC I'd love to have one myself to add to my collection of currency and coinage (much of which has little value other than its artistic value) from around the world.
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