Detroit Community Scrip, also called Detroit Cheers, is a local currency scrip

Scrip

Scrip is an American term for any substitute for currency which is not legal tender and is often a form of credit. Scrips were created as company payment of employees and also as a means of payment in times where regular money is unavailable, such as remote coal towns, military bases, ships on long...

 in Detroit, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. Modeled upon the provincial dollars that were used during the Great Depression, it is being used to restore local economic confidence in a city that has an unemployment rate of 22.2%. The Cheers are backed by US currency and are fully exchangeable for an equal amount of U.S. dollars, backed by several Detroit businesses. There are currently $4,500 worth of cheers in circulation. Businesses can sign up to be "Reserves" and print scrip after depositing a matching amount in U.S. dollars and then be entitled to print Cheers. Currently, there are four Reserves, the first was the Motor City Brewing Works More than 25 businesses have signed up to accept Cheers, but many others informally accept them.

Design

Cheers are available in only the $3 denomination. The standardized face of the Cheer features the Spirit of Detroit

Spirit of Detroit

The Spirit of Detroit is a city monument with a large bronze statue created by Marshall Fredericks and located at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, USA....

over the Detroit Skyline. The back of the bill is designed by the issuing business and can vary.