In the aftermath of the Battle of Batoche, the Canadian government offered “scrip,” a coupon to be traded for land and money to Métis residing the Northwest Territories including present-day Alberta. The scrip system was flawed for many reasons, resulting in the systematic loss of Métis lands. The scrip commissions were advertised in newspapers and on posters. It is believed that the purpose of one of these advertisements was to alert speculators. There was also no protection against fraud — many had their names forged without their knowledge. As a general practice, land speculators bought scrip from Métis at very low prices and then sold it to the main chartered banks in Canada. Out of the 14,849 issued, land speculators ended up obtaining 12,560 money scrips.