Clamshell Currency | Hakai Magazine

“The thought of having to go for four days without readily available cash shocked Americans. Around the country, businesses began issuing IOU-style notes or ersatz dollars—often called scrip currency—in the form of metal or wooden tokens so that everyday transactions could continue even when retailers couldn’t easily issue change to customers. In Pismo Beach, however, locals turned to a different resource: the shells of the Pismo clam, a large, edible clam once plentiful in the coastal waters of central California.”

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Thumbnail Image: Nodq at English Wikipedia Pismo Beach /Public Domain/via Wikipedia Commons