Many Factory Owners paid in notes that could only be used in the Factory Shop/Company Store.

I may be wrong in my naming of the Bill that banned this, but I think that it was called "The Truck Act".

It was common in America as well ~ Frankie Laine sang about it in the 60's

Wikki link

There is the Totnes Pound

fourm member - I don't know whether a similar system is still used by IBM or not. About 15 years ago working for them you could not use any currency but had to preload/top up your electronic pass at set credit/debit card points. Not only did this permit you access to your permitted areas but also was the only way to get a cup of coffee from the vending machine or buy a meal in the canteen. Visitors were given a pass pre-loaded with enough for a coffee or a meal but could not top it up themselves.

This method of payment wasn't uncommon in the 18th century and early part of the 19th century, when the country's canal and railway networks were being developed. The 'navvies' who did the hard work were paid by the day, and more often than not if they got cash it went straight down their throats in the form of alcohol.

Employers partially solved the problem by minting their own metal tokens, which were exchangeable for food and other goods in company stores and canteens, none of which stocked alcohol. I say 'partially solved' because the practice lead to a culture of clandestine poteen distilling, something that wasn't easy to stop in the often remote countryside construction locations. The navvies could easily steal grain from farm fields, and constructing a working pot still isn't rocket science.

At around 60% alcohol by volume the spirit can't have improved the health of its drinkers, but it apparently made a wonderful muscle rub at the end of a hard day's digging or track laying.