<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (May 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In the United States, a wooden nickel is a wooden token coin, usually issued by a merchant or bank as a promotion, sometimes redeemable for a specific item such as a drink . </P> <P> Scrip and tokens have often been issued locally in times of severe economic distress such as financial crises and the Civil War . During the Depression, a local bank in Tenino, Washington, issued emergency currency printed on thin shingles of wood . Blaine, Washington, soon did the same with both flat scrip and, in response to requests generated by news and word of mouth, coins that included a 5 - cent piece . The Chicago World's Fair in 1933 issued wooden nickels as souvenirs, and the tradition of wooden nickels as tokens and souvenirs continues to the present day . </P> <P> In more recent times, wooden nickel trading has become more popular . Individuals can have their own personalized token made and then trade with others who also have had their own made . This is especially popular in geocaching . </P>

Where did the term wooden nickel come from