Coin of the Day 9-13-18

In 1942, the Office of Price Administration started rationing items in the United States due to World War 2. The rationing affected items from canned good and meat, to tires and gas.

One of the ways to keep track of the rations was by having people purchase the good with tokens. There were two kinds of tokens for food, the red ones which were for meat and the blue ones which were for processed food.

Blue token for Processed foods

Red token for meats and fats

Red and Blue tokens for a complete(ish) meal

I'm not going to comment on the rationing or the governmental involvement in this article. I'm merely trying to highlight the history of these tokens and how they came into being.

Both tokens were made of vulcanized fiber (celluloid). Some information says they were first produced in 1942, but other information says they weren't actually distributed until 1944. I'm not sure if that means they were produced, but not used for two years, or if there's a discrepancy on when they were made.

There is lettering in the middle of each token. Some of the letters are more rare. I don't know how this affects the pricing as I haven't seen consistent pricing info. Seeing as they're a link to a part of history that is easy to forget, I'll be holding onto them. Who knows, if rationing ever comes back, maybe they'll still be good for a can of beans or a steak.

Do you have any ration tokens?

_{Numista was my primary source for the Blue tokens and Red tokens
I also got some of my information here}

---

@themanwithnoname