"If a coal miner survived a month of work in the mines, he was paid not in U.S. currency but in metals and paper (called coal scrip), which was printed by the coal company. Because only the company that printed the coal scrip honored it, or would redeem it, the coal miner had to purchase all his goods–his food, clothing, and tools–from the company store. Hence the miner paid monopolistic prices for his goods. Journalists and U.S. senatorial investigating committees repeatedly revealed the the region's coal company store prices were substantially higher, sometimes three times higher, than the local trade stores."

–David Corbin, Life, Work, and Rebellion