@OhYouBadBadKitten
Who knew a miners pay check looked like that?
It was probably the thing they handed over to get their wage packet.
Checks are commonly used in mining and other dangerous occupations as ways of counting people in and out of dangerous areas.
Each worker is issued with a unique token, or check. They hand the check in when they enter the area and it is hung on a board. They collect it when they leave.
Of course, if something bad happens while they are in the mine, the board gives them a list of how many workers they need to try and rescue 
.
The pay checks would have been a way of keeping track of who had been given their wages in times when they were paid in cash and many might not have been able to read and write.