1 Shi Liang - Shandong Province Food Stamp

Chinese provincial food stamps (liangpiao) sit outside conventional notaphily but have attracted serious collector attention since the 1990s. Shandong's grain ration coupons from the late 1970s represent the system near its administrative peak — the national rationing apparatus, introduced in 1955, would persist until 1993, but by 1978 the bureaucratic infrastructure producing these coupons had become enormously elaborate, with each province, prefecture, county, and work unit often issuing distinct series.

The 1 shi liang denomination equals one-tenth of a jin, a unit retained specifically for grain rationing arithmetic. Shandong issues from this period are among the more systematically collected, owing to the province's size and the relative variety of its coupon types.