by AGgressive Metal » Sat Sep 29, 2012 10:58 am
They are from the 30-50s, maybe later in some areas. Basically back in the day a 6% (for example) sales tax on small items would lead to rounding problems since prices were much lower (example, 6% of 10 cents leaves 4 mills between the tax and the next round number 11). Since a cent actually mattered back then, people didn't want to be ripped off so there were tax tokens denominated in mills that you would recieve as a refund like the 10.6 cents example - you would pay 11 cents and get 4 mills worth of tax tokens in return.
And he that hath lyberte ought to kepe hit wel
For nothyng is better than lyberte
For lyberte shold not be wel sold for alle the gold and syluer of all the world
-Aesop's Fables, Caxton edition 1484