"The wooden scrip from Blaine, Washington, was issued during the depression of 1933 by the Blaine Relief Association. This scrip came into existence in 1933 at the request of Albert Balch, then president of the Blaine Chamber of Commerce. Issued in denominations of 5?, 10?, 25?, 50? and $1.00, it was backed by non-interest-bearing warrants and merchants' notes. The warrants were issued as security for money, for redemption of wooden money only, and were redeemable in United States currency or gold. To distribute more of the scrip, the city actually designed work to be done by Blaine citizens. All the wooden scrip was redeemable at par for merchandise at any store in Blaine. It was also used in payment for labor on city improvement projects. Since the issue was nationally publicized, requests for the wooden nickels were received from every state in the union. Many of the requests were offering above par for this money. The most saved denomination was the nickel. Out of a total amount of $1,900 issued, which included 8,850 wooden nickels, only $350 remained extant. All issued pieces of Blaine depression scrip are very scarce. This wooden scrip was designed by Whipple Y. Chester, an artist on the Bellingham Herald. It was press-stamped from three-ply sheetwood at the Blaine Journal. All coins are 42 mm. in diameter. The basic design is the same for all pieces, with denomination and text on the face, the Peace Arch at center, and the inscription around on the back. See example one, which contains a complete denomination set of Blaine, Washington, emergency scrip. The amounts issued were: 5? - serial numbers 1 to 3,000; 10? - serial numbers 1 to 1,500 or more; 25? - serial numbers 1 to 1,000; 50? - serial numbers 1 to 500. Each issued scrip note was serially numbered by hand or stamp and initialed by one of the officers of the Blaine Relief Association. These officers were Albert Balch, Chamber of Commerce president; Earle L. McKinney; Reverend Floyd C. Green, Relief Association president and town treasurer; and Whipple Yale Chester, designer of the scrip. See example two which has both hand and stamped serial numbers along with the initials F.C.G. (I asked Neil Shafer, an expert on depression money, if he knew of many examples initialed by other than F.C.G. and he said "very few." Neil also told me that "Replacement" issues from Blaine were known. He told me that they had a handwritten "R" on the Peace Arch side. He considered these as a non-collectible item as they are very rare.)"