Ration Tokens of the United States and Canada: Decoded - Paperback

by Nick F. Sapone (Author)

This is a collector's accounting of America's and Canada's ration tokens that were used on the home front during World War II. It is also about the collectors who have found answers about these tokens.

The author's interest began at an early age in 1948, when he found a few OPA tokens that were saved by his grandparents. They intrigued the young explorer, and thus began a search for answers that was soon delayed for years until he had the experience and time to pursue the mysteries of ration tokens. His new finds and continuing research have opened the door to a new field of study, revealing more than ever about the tokens and errors, which are of growing interest to many collectors.

There is also some history combined with the accomplishments of others who are duly credited for their efforts. However, the author also wanted to know how the tokens were minted because that was necessary for this particular research of the error tokens. This and decades of study has provided us with explanations of the mechanics of minting ration tokens, which is different from minting coins. This new knowledge enables us to explain the mystery of the errors, while introducing collectors to entire new categories of ration token information that was previously unknown.

The mystery of Canada's ration tokens has also been solved. Their minting was similar, but some surprising differences in their die tooling are now revealed that will enhance collector interest. While Canada's major error tokens are few and difficult to acquire, a new category of minor errors is also revealed here. Worthy examples are likely to be found in any handful of Canada's ration tokens, where they have previously remained unnoticed, and there are pictures of the new finds.