OPA Ration Tokens
During World War II, the federal government established a new agency called the "Office of Price Administration." Its objectives included rationing of scarce commodities, price fixing on certain items to avoid speculation, and preventing runaway inflation during the war.
Each household was issued ration books based on a variety of factors: number of people in the household, ages, small children, elderly, and handicapped. These ration booklets contained various small stamps which had no cash value, but were required to purchase food items. In addition to paying for food, a person also had to submit the right number of ration stamps.
The price of the item was not a factor in the use of these stamps. However, to make exact change, shopkeepers were issued small red and or blue tokens. They were made of a vulcanized fiber and were 16-mm in diameter. Some products required red tokens in change while other products required blue tokens as change.
These tokens were issued from 1942 to 1945 when rationing ended. The letters on the tokens have no specific meaning and were apparently random.
Each household was issued ration books based on a variety of factors: number of people in the household, ages, small children, elderly, and handicapped. These ration booklets contained various small stamps which had no cash value, but were required to purchase food items. In addition to paying for food, a person also had to submit the right number of ration stamps.
The price of the item was not a factor in the use of these stamps. However, to make exact change, shopkeepers were issued small red and or blue tokens. They were made of a vulcanized fiber and were 16-mm in diameter. Some products required red tokens in change while other products required blue tokens as change.
These tokens were issued from 1942 to 1945 when rationing ended. The letters on the tokens have no specific meaning and were apparently random.
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Two OPA Rationing tokens are owned. The first is a One Blue Point token with the letters T T, and the other is a One Red Point token with the letters U H.
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