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Office of Price Administration Tokens:

Complete Image Resource & Checklist

Kindle only (~98 pages)
Token, Token, Who has a Token? War rationing affected every family throughout the US and these little red and blue tokens became a way of life on the home front. A complete pictorial reference of the OPA Tokens available for collecting today.

Office of Price Administration Tokens:

What do you get with this Kindle book?

  • Quick History of the OPA: Provided is a very nice summary of how the OPA came into being, and their role in rationing items during WWII.
  • Introduction to OPA Tokens: A very informative article of how the history behind the OPA Tokens, and their connection with America.
  • OPA "Red" Tokens: A complete pictorial review of all 30 "Red" OPA Tokens - these are high resolution scans from uncirculated tokens.
  • OPA "Blue" Tokens: A complete pictorial review of all 24 "Blue" OPA Tokens - these are high resolution scans from uncirculated tokens.
  • Token, Token, Who has a Token?: This is a really nice piece of commentary on how war rationing affected the families throughout the United States. (Printed with permission of the family of Marguerite H. German).

I am very excited to be sharing with you one of my interests, that of collecting World War II OPA Tokens. My introduction into collecting these little red and blue tokens is interesting. While at a coin show in Pittsburgh, PA, I was looking through many boxes of tokens when I came across something interesting, about the size of a dime. Needless to say I was intrigued by my latest find, and just had to purchase it for the 10c they were asking. Well, when I got home I researched this new type of token that I had just acquired, it was a ration token released during WWII. I later found out that the OPA stood for the Office of Price Administration.

I have been collecting these for years, and have thousands of OPA tokens in my collection. I have completed two sets of these tokens, one in uncirculated condition and another in circulated. I cherish them because they relate to a time in history that we must never forget. During World War II, these tokens were used as a method to regulate or ration how much any given family could buy. This rationing was done because of the shortages that were caused due to the war effort.

This being one of my interests, I searched and searched... only to find that there has been little published on the collecting of OPA Tokens. This gave me the idea that I could use my knowledge along with other information that I have found on the internet to produce a reference guide. I have assembled this booklet as a means to share with you a complete pictorial reference of the OPA Tokens that are available for collecting. Additionally, I have provided you with a checklist for your own collection.

The Image Resource...
There are 30 tokens in the OPA Red set. The known letter combinations are HC, HT, MM, MV, TH, TY, UC, UH, UT, UV, UX, UY, VC, VH, VT, VU, VX, VY, XC, XH, XT, XU, XV, XY, YC, YH, YT, YU, YV, YX. Token MV is considered Ultra Rare, and the key in the set. Token MM is considered Rare, and is the second most important token in the set. Tokens YC and XC are considered Semi-Rare, and are slightly harder to find than commons. All other Red Tokens are fairly common, and should be easy enough to collect. All 30 Red Tokens are scanned and pictured in this guide.

There are 24 tokens in the OPA Blue set. The known letter combinations are CC, CH, CT, CV, CX, HH, HU, HV, HX, HY, TC, TT, TU, TV, TX, UU, VV, WC, WH, WT, WU, WW, XX, YY. Token WC is considered Ultra Rare, and the key in the set. Token WW and WH are considered Rare, and are the second most important tokens in the set. Tokens WU and HX are considered Semi-Rare, and are slightly harder to find than commons. All other Blue Tokens are fairly common, and should be easy enough to collect. All 24 Blue Tokens are scanned and pictured in this guide.

The Checklist...
There are three versions of the checklist that come with this package. The first is in Microsoft Excel format, the second is in Microsoft Word format, and the third is in Adobe PDF format. We made the spreadsheet available in various formats in order to provide you with the greatest control available over tracking your collection of OPA Tokens.

Rationing in World War II...

Related Scanning WWII links...

  • 27 Aug 39: Germany rations food, footwear, textiles and coal
  • 24 Sep 39: Germany rations bread and flour on small scale
  • 08 Jan 40: UK rations butter, sugar and bacon
  • 12 Feb 40: UK cuts paper supply by 40 percent
  • 15 May 40: UK reduces butter to 4 oz per person per week
  • 27 May 40: UK reduces sugar to 8 oz per person per month
  • 08 Jul 40: UK cuts tea to two ounces per person per week
  • 31 Aug 40: France rations sugar, spaghetti, rice and margarine
  • 01 Oct 40: Australia rations petrol
  • 17 Dec 40: UK increases rations temporarily for Christmas week
  • 28 Feb 41: Vichy France cuts bread ration to 280 grams
  • 01 Mar 41: Italy halves civilian food rations to export to Germany
  • 17 Mar 41: UK rations jam and marmalade to 8 oz per month
  • 25 Mar 41: UK cuts jams and marmalade rations again, meat rations cut
  • 01 Jun 41: UK rations clothing, allowing one complete outfit per year
  • 08 Jul 41: USSR begins rationing of basic foods in major cities
  • 24 Sep 41: Cigarettes in Paris cut to 4 a day for men, 0 for women
  • 17 Mar 42: UK begins rationing of fuels and electricity
  • 15 May 42: Gasoline rationing goes into effect in the eastern US
  • 01 Dec 42: Coffee rationed despite record production
  • 07 Feb 43: To conserve leather and rubber, shoe rationing begins
  • 29 Mar 43: Meat rationing begins, set at 2½ lbs per week per adult
  • 01 Apr 43: Fats, canned goods and cheese added to rationed list
  • 28 Jul 43: Coffee rationing, begun on 01 Dec 42, is lifted
  • 08 Jan 44: Tokens introduced, allowing stores to give back change
  • 22 Apr 44: Typewriters, rationed since Nov 42, removed from rationing
  • 03 May 44: Meat rationing ends, except for certain selected cuts
  • 22 May 45: UK reduces bacon, cooking fat, meat and soap
  • 16 Aug 45: Gasoline and fuel oil rationing comes to an end
  • 23 Nov 45: Butter rationing ends, leaving sugar as only rationed item
  • 01 Jun 47: Sugar rationing finally ends
  • 15 Mar 49: UK clothes rationing, imposed on 01 Jun 41, is finally lifted

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