The National Scrip Collectors Association (a Kentucky not-for-profit) will be holding their semi-annual Scrip Show and meeting in Beckley, West Virginia, beginning at 8 a.m. on April 19 and ending at noon on the 20th.
Location of the event is 2120 Harper Road at the Country Inn & Suites. The public is invited and encouraged to attend, and ADMISSION IS FREE.
Coal scrip was the private currency of coal companies. In the mid 1950’s, scrip had all but disappeared as a method of labor payment. Coal scrip, like other obsolete currency, has survived and today is thriving in the hands of collectors. No one ever thought that coal, merchant and lumber scrip would have another life. As hard as the work was to earn a few dollars the miner and lumberman’s families had no thought of saving the scrip.
Almost all scrip is in circulated condition. Even so, some few are worth hundreds of dollars or more. There will be vendors, dealers, and collectors at the show who will offer their opinions as to the value of any scrip and maybe have advice on where to sell it if desired.
Other mining memorabilia, artifacts, coal scrip books, and catalogues usually have dealers also. The main purpose of NSCA is to encourage the study and research of the history of coal mining companies as it relates to the usage of scrip tokens and the families that used it.