Rachel D'Hoore, an outstanding Junior Member of our Club, gave the following presentation at our meeting this past August 20, 2009:

            World War II            Ration Tokens    

World War II started on September 3, 1939 when Britain and France declared war on Germany.  The USA joined the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The tokens were issued in 1942 to 1945 because the army needed the goods. The Office of Price Administration created the ration tokens hence the name on the coin OPA. The tokens were used as a mean of controlling the rationing of certain consumer goods and foods.  The coins also helped prevent run away inflation during the war. Each household was issued ration tokens depending on the number of people in the household, ages, children under the age of 3, elderly, and handicapped. The tokens were made in two different colors red and blue. Red ration tokens were used for all meat goods and the blue ration tokens were used for all non-meat goods. The tokens were made entirely of fiber board. Each token was worth one point. They were used with coupons of the same color to pay for rationed items and were used as change when purchasing goods. The number of the tokens that were issued was in the billions, and even though most have been destroyed or lost, some still remain for collectors today.

( Excellent job, Rachel!)