Emergency Money
date: label: Date made
content: 1933
label: used date
content: 1933
name: label: referenced
content: Leiter's Pharmacy
notes: label: Description
content: When the nation's banks closed during the Depression, Leiter's Pharmacy in Pismo Beach, California, issued this clamshell as change.
label: Description
content: The 1929 stock market crash triggered banking panics, as people rushed to withdraw their savings before they were lost. In March 1933, President Roosevelt ordered a four-day bank holiday to prevent further withdrawals. To compensate for the currency shortage, communities created emergency money, or scrip. This clamshell was signed as it changed hands and redeemed when cash became available again.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, Pismo Beach
label: used
content: United States: California, Pismo Beach
topic: label: related event
content: Bank Holiday of 1933
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
label: See more items in
content: National Treasures exhibit
label: See more items in
content: Coins, Currency and Medals
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Chase Manhattan Bank
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1263.00467
label: accession number
content: 1979.1263
label: catalog number
content: 79.112.OC102A
objectType: label: Object Name
content: shell money, clam
label: Object Name
content: alternative currency
label: Other Terms
content: shell money, clam; North America; California, Pismo Beach
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: shells, clam (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white/yellow (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: marked with ink (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 97.9 mm x 133.6 mm; x 3 7/8 in x 5 1/4 in