I asked about Wooden Nickels at the last club meeting. There were 4 of us collecting them! Gene knew of several sources of information. He also remembered spending one at a coffee shop! The idea of wooden money came from America apparently – back in the 1930s when banks in Washington State issued them in an emergency.
Dec 4th Canada Coin News have just published a fascinating article on Wooden money
by Jesse Robitaille Collecting wooden money remains strong in Canada
There’s a collector’s society too!
“Founded in 1975 with 45 charter members and expanding beyond 200 members by the end of that decade, the Canadian Association of Wooden Money Collectors (CAWMC) is showing no signs of slowing down.”
There’s a section on Wooden Nickel history:
“It’s believed the first use of wooden money was in the town of Tenino, Wash., where a local bank failed on Dec. 4, 1931, amid the Great Depression. The community issued emergency currency printed on thin wood to allow residents to make purchases, and the local government used wooden tokens for the state’s sales tax system.
In 1933, wooden currency was also issued in nearby Blaine, Wash., in denominations of five, 10, 25 and 50 cents as well as $1.”
