1862 Tucker & Stiles Brookline NH 10 Cents Merchant Scrip - 1862 Brookline New Hampshire Ten Cent Obsolete Merchant Note

This listing is for the photographed 1862 Tucker & Stiles 10 Cents Obsolete Merchant Scrip Note. This note was issued by the merchant Tucker & Stiles from Brookline, New Hampshire on July 16th, 1862. A vignette of patriotic eagles is printed on the left end of this note, and a vignette of a dog laying beside a chest and key is printed on the right end. Very Fine (VF) grade/condition, some visible folds and other signs of circulation. Interesting and rarer obsolete note in excellent condition! LaFond gives this note an R4 rarity. Must have for any collection!

This scrip note would be used similar to a modern-day coupon, giving the customer a discount of the determined amount off of their purchase of more than 1 dollar at the merchant's store. Scrip notes were popularly used during the Civil War and the aftermath of the economic panic of 1857 in an attempt to boost sales for local businesses. 

The country store Tucker & Stiles opened in 1846 in Brookline, NH by Henry Stiles and John Tucker. They offered various groceries and imported foreign goods from the West Indies. The store was located in the hotel building on Main St. in Brookline. The business was successful, with the men expanding the company to include the wholesale manufacture of lumber and barrels in the 1850s. At this point they employed over 100 workers. By 1859 the company was estimated to be worth $20,000. Later that year in November 1859, the business made a poor investment in a Boston coal oil venture, leaving them $5000 in debt. Tucker and Stiles sought the help of Walter Fessenden, cashier of the Townsend Bank, to get a loan to pay off their debt. The business continued after the scandal, but they never returned to their former success, ultimately closing the business in 1864. 

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1862 Tucker & Stiles Brookline NH 10 Cents Merchant Scrip - 1862 Brookline New Hampshire Ten Cent Obsolete Merchant Note