OPA tokens

tmot99

Does anyone have any knowledge about OPA tokens? There was recently an article about them in Coin World, but I don't get it. I saw it at my dealer and have some OPA tokens that I have never wondered what to do with them.

Anyway, in the article, they talk about a rarer mint mark, the red tokens with "MM".Well, I have one of these and have no idea of value or exactly how rare it is.

Can anyone help?

Conder101

Waht do you want to know? For the basics, there are two different types red tokens and blue tokens. Each was worth one ration point. The tokens were used to "make change" for the fixed value stamps from your rationing book. Before they were issued, if you bought an item that required say 8 ration points and you gave them the stamp from your book which was worth 10 points, you lost those other two points. After they came out you would get the tokens in change and you could accumulate them and use them like the stamps. One type, I think it was the red, was good for frozen foods, sugar, processed fods, and canned goods. The blue tokens were for meat, fats, and edible oils. (I may have those reversed) Each token has two "check letters" on either side of the 1. There are 30 differnt combinations found on the red tokens and 24 on the blue for a total of 54 different varieties. Four of the blue versions that start with W are scarce but not particularly valuable. They can be found with a little searching among mixed lots or purchased for a dollar or two. In the red tokens the MM is very scarce and it will command $10 - $20 depending on condition. The key to the set is the red MV. Back in 1970 it was considered very rare and only 24 pieces were known. Since then more have turned up and there are between 100 and 200 known. A red MV is worth from $75 - $125 depending on condition.

The check letters when charted form a nice little rectangle and their layout forms a definite pattern with the exception of the MM and the MV. The MV probably should not exist at all and the MM is most likely an error. All of the other dual letter tokens are blue tokens not red, and the MM and MV are the only tokens that start with M. But there is one dual letter combination that should exist but doesn't. There is no blue WW. On the tokens they used the same punch for both the M and the W. I think the red MM's were supposed to be blue WW's. By the time they discovered the error some MM's had already gone out but they scrapped the rest and did not proceed with the blue WW because they were worried about a counterfeiting problem having two tokens with near identical markings. (Yes during the war they did have problems with people using pain to change red tokens to blue and blue tokens to red.)

No one today really knows what the significance of all the check letters was. The tokens were made by the Osbourne Register Company of Cincinnati OH but requstes made to them yeas ago for infomation about the letters was denied. It seems the information about the check letters is still classified information for reasons of national security.