Educational Toy Money
It was valued as an educational tool in the United States for several decades, and Milton Bradley continued to publish it until the middle of the twentieth century.
A note on the box assured buyers "This is an exact Fac-simile, on cardboard, of the common current coins in use, making not only an exceedingly amusing but at the same time a very instructive toy, the playing with which must of necessity impress upon the youthful mind the value of the different coins and the art of making change with ease and accuracy, thereby laying the foundation for Elementary Arithmetic, even in the nursery.
"[1]: 9 The coins were so similar to American currency that at the turn of the 20th century, they ran afoul of federal legislation regarding counterfeit money, and the company was ordered to redesign the currency to include the word "educational".
[1]: 9 For several decades afterwards, the company printed a long disclaimer on the inside of the box lid that read "Our Educational Toy Money has for years been a leading article in the school and toy trade of the country.
These designs have been accepted by the proper authority at Washington and we can offer the present form to the public with the assurance that it is no moral or actual encroachment upon the most stringent interpretation of the recent laws.
Three copies of Toy Money are held in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History:
