10 000 Grams - Fine Grain Food Stamp Zhongjiang County, Sichuan

Chinese county-level grain rationing coupons (粮票) were administrative instruments, not currency — they entitled the bearer to purchase a fixed quantity of staple grain at state-controlled prices and were worthless outside their issuing jurisdiction. Zhongjiang County, a largely agricultural district in central Sichuan, ran its own parallel rationing infrastructure entirely separately from provincial or national coupon systems. A 10,000-gram denomination is toward the upper end of what county bureaus typically issued for fine grain, suggesting intended use by work units or institutional buyers rather than individual households.

The national grain rationing system was formally abolished in 1993, making 1990 issues among the last cohort produced before the entire apparatus was dismantled.