I am thinking about starting a collection of OPA tokens. I'm not much of a token collector, however part of my interest in coins speaks to the monetary history of the US. These tokens are a small yet important part of that history. They appear to be a somewhat ignored sector of collecting and despite their being fairly common there is a substantial value to certain ones. My dealer has a ton of them in the bottom of his token bin that I know have been there for years, in addition to a tobacco can full that is in a local indoor flea market. I was just curious if anyone else here actively collects them. Many may be like I was and know nothing of them. See here for some history: http://fantasticprices.com/token/opa.html I look forward to any comments or ideas y'all may have.
They make a great set. Not counting varieties and errors there are about 60 different ones. Some are a little tougher in unc. There are ten or twelve that aren't common but they outnumber the fifty or a hundred collectors so they don't get any real premium. There are two scarcities. The minor one is worth a few dollars and the major can be pretty tough. These are extensively collected with tax tokens. I would strongly suggest you join the ATTS (American Tax Token Society) to have more access to these. It's a great group and they can be very helpful. The publications alone are worth far more than the dues.
Frankly I'm amazed that there are uncirculated examples available at all. When I was a kid, in my family at least, they were far too valuable as a means to acquire rationed goods to be set aside as collectibles.
Most of them are only lightly circulated though there are many that are pretty heavily circulated. These were made by the railcar load and shipped out of Cincinnati all over the country. I suspect that a lot of them were still in the pipeline after the war and some redeemed ones might have been available as well. Whatever the source there were many millions around after the war but attrition and degradation have affected them a great deal. They sure aren't as common as they were 50 years ago. The tax tokens are fun too and can be much tougher in unc. Gemmy tax tokens in most cases aren't an option.
I have a few in my tokens and other oddities collection, which is just a collection of tokens from all different sources and odd stuff like different bus,taxi,subway,and anything else tokens, valuable no-fun yes!
I have two full sets of them, one circ, one Unc. They are a neat piece of WWII history that a lot of people don't know about. More Unc pieces exist than a lot of people now about. After the war there were still a lot of these that had never been used. Among specialists unopened boxes turn up fairly frequently, and last month I was talking with the son of a recently deceased local club member who had actively collected rationing memorabilia. He had an unopened box with him for display at the meeting, and he told me that he has three unopened CASES of the tokens. There are 250 tokens to a box and I believe 20 boxes to the case. It seems odd but the boxes of tokens were NOT all the same check letter combination. They are mixed in each box.
Well guys, I took the plunge. I went down to the flea market this afternoon and picked up that can I referred to. Of course, they are all circulated, but some are in very good condition. I am partway into the sorting process as you can see. I found 3 MM Red Points (the 2nd rarest), no MV's though (the rarest), and 2 Blue Points. Thanks for all the great info and insight. Edit: Oh yeah, I also found a really good 25% off center error Red Point YX.
Uncirculated tokens and stamps are an indication that too many people circumvented the ration system. It proves some received and did not need. Okay, many will dispute - but think about it. Greed vs. Need. Same people exist today, I guess the apple never falls far from the tree... LOL
Funny thing about apples and trees, I am now collecting ration tokens and my grandfather ran black market goods during the war. Edit: Final count on today's token buy = 266. Enough for 2 complete sets of reds except for the MV, 2 blues, and a good off-center. Also, one very lightly struck. Stuck 'em in my Dansco stockbook until I find a better system.
Years ago I'm talking about mid 1970"s We,a friend of mine and I purchased a board from the opa token something or other. I still have 2 open spots for the tokens. Maybe I'll look around and find at least the blue one i'm missing. I know I'm not getting the red M/V.
Nope these came from unopened boxes that still had the government seals. And yo can tell the unc tokens. They were made of fiber and the edges readily absorbed skin oils and turned dull. Unc tokens have bright orange edges.
