$1.00 denomination U.S.D.A Food Coupon series 1976-1991 Stamp Token Single note. Buyer will receive one $1.00 U.S department of agriculture paper food stamp. Perfect condition. Uncirculated, crisp, very rare in this condition. Stamp still has perforated tab. Hard to find coupons that were torn perfectly from the original booklet like the above example.Buyer will receive a stamp of equal quality or better. The series and year are chosen at random. While supplies last...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Coupons were issued to participants of the Food Stamp Program. The program was constantly changing. Many different printers, book sizes and even sizes of shipping containers are all coded into the design elements of each and every note. The notes issued from 1975-2004 are called Bicentennial Coupons. These were the last coupons in use before the Food Stamp Program was replaced by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which exclusivly uses electronic benefit cards. The last coupons printed were dated 2000, however they were printed until 2002 and issued until 2004. The Farm Bill of 2008 directed that all paper coupons be demonetized on July 17th 2009. It was illegal to buy or sell the coupons from person to person or to buy alcohol and other non grocery items including gas. When an individual was granted Food Coupons, a booklet valued at a set amount was issued. The only way to legally possess Food Coupons was to be issued by the USDA. Most people who legitimately needed them were approved and could use them for the printed value to help with their monthly food expenses. Once the program participant spent the coupon the grocers were instructed to stamp the coupon. Making the stamps invalid for use additional use, then grocers would deposit the coupons into a participating bank. The bank would ship them back to the department of agriculture who would destroy them after recording the count and location of the stamps sent in. Because most people on the program depended on the the supplemental income, almost all of the coupons printed were utilized as intended, ending with their destruction at the USDA. Any coupons are still in existence are highly collectable because of this with only a fraction originally printed still existing. Partial notes, bent notes, folded notes all are sold regularly on various markets. Any coupon still in existence has some value, some more than others. Similar to currency, the quality of the note, the existence of the perforated tab, and the serial number as well as the origin of the note all contribute to the value. Today they are completely demonetized and legal to own and resale on the collectors market. Like paper money and other like items of age, importance, historical significance and rarity. Currency collectors and collectors alike look for 1 of 1 notes with errors, unique serial numbers, early serial numbers, uncirculated gem quality notes and more.