Company money, also known as script currency or shin plaster, was common among the glassworks of the early 1800’s. The name shin plaster derived from “chein piastre,” which means dog money or dog-eared money. This money was paid to the workers as their wages and was accepted only at the company-owned general store. They would also use this money to barter with others in the town for services such as the blacksmith or carpenter. This would have limited the worker’s options as to where they could spend their money and in essence kept them trapped by the company. Workers could sometimes sell company currency for real cash, but it was usually quite discounted.

Paper currency like this is just one form that company money took. Less common than paper currency was tokens, or coins issued by the company. By 1863, however, the metal used to make the tokens had a greater value than the face value of the token, further decreasing their popularity. Another method was pass books. These were ledgers that the company would keep and they would add the worker’s wages and then subtract any purchases that they made from the company store. This bypassed the need for paper script and was more common among smaller glassworks.

All forms of company currency was outlawed in New Jersey in the late 1800’s. Sources seem to attribute this to the devaluing of company currency and multiple strikes by glassworkers demanding to be paid in U.S. currency as it was more stable and worth more than the script currency. 

Script currency helped to shape Glassboro. Glassboro was a company town and the use of script currency helped to maintain that. Workers were in essence trapped by the glassworks. They were paid in currency that was accepted only at the store run by the company. While the store would have had everything that town residence would have needed, they would not have had the option to go anywhere else.