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| Issuer | Ministry of Food of the People's Republic of China |
|---|---|
| Year | 1965-1966 |
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| In circulation to | 1 January 1967 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 中华人民共和国粮食部全国通用粮票 壹市折 1966 (Translation: National Food Stamp of the Ministry of Food of the People's Republic of China One Shi Jin (0.5 kilogram) 1966) |
| Reverse description | Cream paper with dark red guilloche border enclosing four numbered usage instructions in Chinese characters. A large circular official red intaglio seal of the Ministry of Food of the People's Republic of China is centrally placed, bearing the national emblem. Denomination numeral "1" appears in ornamental cartouches at left and right. |
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| Comments |
China's national food ration coupons — quanguo liangpiao — were issued by the Ministry of Food from 1955 onward as part of the state's grain rationing system, which controlled virtually all staple food distribution for roughly four decades. The 1965–1966 series falls squarely in the period preceding the Cultural Revolution's administrative disruptions, when the rationing bureaucracy was still functioning with relative coherence. These coupons were redeemable at state grain shops anywhere in the country, which distinguished national-issue stamps from the far more numerous provincial and municipal varieties.
Survival rates are uneven. Used coupons were typically collected and cancelled by the issuing shop; most survivors reached collectors only after the rationing system was officially abolished in 1993, when large institutional stocks were released.