Some argue that scrip was an evil that kept miners indebted to the coal company while profiting from inflated prices at the company store, while others argue that it was a necessary system that benefitted miners by permitting them the ability to get an advance of their wages and that the costs of the goods in the company store was comparable to other stores considering the remoteness of the company towns and the difficulty in getting goods brought into these towns.

 
Scrip was a system that was no doubt abused, but it was also a system that had its benefits. It is doubtful that either position on the subject would appropriate in all instances.
Miners were usually paid twice each month and the miner, who oftentimes found himself short of cash and in need of supplies, either for his household or for his work (miners had to purchase his own tools, explosives, etc.), he could go down to the company store and get an advance against the wages he had earned up to that
point to purchase the things he needed. These advances were recorded and deducted from his paycheck on payday. The company store could more easily keep
its books by recording that a particular miner received $5.00 in scrip (commonly referred to as “cutting scrip”, i.e. “Miner cut $5.00 worth of scrip today”) ratherthan record each individual purchase in its ledger. Further, it was much easier to record even amounts, such as $5.00 in scrip rather than $2.98 in purchases today, $1.35 tomorrow, etc. The way it worked, in most cases, was that the miner would get, for example, a $5.00 advance against his wages, make whatever purchases he wanted up to the $5.00 advance and if his purchase was less than $5.00, then he would be given change in scrip. He could either spend the scrip at the company store, or if he kept it until payday, he could exchange it for cash (in US legal tender).