Play Money At Garage Sale

Seems like a fun set so congrats on the pick-up. I wonder if this was part of a poker set. I'm pretty sure that I've seen poker chips in a similar holder/dispenser.

I think that the thread belongs over here in the exonumia subforum.

With the portraits of children on the obverses, I'd tend to assume it's original intent was regular play money for kids, rather than poker chits.

Given the denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents, and with the 5 cents larger than the 10 cents, and the use of the "¢" symbol, the answer to the origin question can only be "either the US or Canada", with the use of different portraits on each denomination clearly pushing me towards the US rather than Canada - though of course it could have been produced elsewhere and intended for marketing in America. I'm not seeing any makers marks or initials on the coins to indicate a possible origin mint. I assume there's nothing stamped on the base or sides of the wooden holder to indicate a manufacturer?

Given that they are made of rather expensive metal (rather than plastic), each coin must have cost less than the "face value" to make, making me assume the age to be 1950s at the latest, probably pre-WWII a more likely date. The presence of a 50 cent coin but not a dollar, also limits the possible date of issue to roughly the 1890-1970 date range.

Amazing little play set
I think that Sap nailed down what it was used for too.