 UTAH, BISHOP'S GENERAL STORE HOUSE NOTES FROM THE 1890'S. Produce and Merchandise Scrip Notes, First Series. Salt Lake City, Utah. Printed serial numbers and stamped dates. Printed on both sides on color bond paper. No imprint, style of engraving like Gast & Co. St. Louis used on the Colorado scrip notes of the same time period. All approximately 12.5cm by 7.5cm. Common face design with denomination protector at the center in ornate cartouche, title above and text 'WORTH OF/Produce and Merchandise Only'. Stamped signature of 'Wm. B. Preston' [Presiding Bishop]. The dates are stamped at the lower left. The common back design with beehive vignette in a circle at the bottom center with texts and four small geometric counters. 5 Cents. No.4732. Jan. 1, 1896. Gray paper with brown printing. Rust Figure 241 (page 181). Very Fine; 25 Cents. No.1035. Date is faint. Yellow paper with brown printing. Figure 243 (page 182). Extremely Fine.
Third Series. Salt Lake City, Utah. Printed numbers and stamped dates. Printed on both sides on white bond paper by Aug. Gast Bank Note & Litho. Co. St. Louis. Each with a common design style face and back. The face and backs printed in color, red for 'Meat' and blue for 'Produce...'. Ornate frame with bottom insets, the serial at the upper left and denomination at the upper right. Titles across the center with text '[MEAT or PRODUCE AND MERCHANDISE]' underneath as appropriate. Stamped signature of Preston. The common back designs with Salt Lake Mormon Temple, flanked by denominations and texts. 5 Cents. No.26684 and 33071. Produce and Merchandise. Oct. 1, 1906. Figure 253 (page 189). Stamped 'CANCELED' in red. Extremely Fine; 10 Cents. No.6135. Meat. April 1, 1898. Figure 254 (page 190). Stamped in black. About Uncirculated; 10 Cents. No.4548. Produce and Merchandise. Oct. 1, 1898. Figure 255 (page 190). Stamped in red. About Uncirculated. 6 pieces.
The scrip notes issued from the General Store House served the same purpose as the General Tithing Store House notes. They were used to redeem tithes in goods and services, stimulate the economy, and provide small change. The majority were issued from 1896 to 1901. By 1908, the United States Government frowned on these currency issues here and in other western states. Most of the remaining notes from the Third Series were stamped 'CANCELED' in ink in order to prevent their further circulation or redemption.
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