1000 Grams - Southern Counties Rice Stamp Sichuan Province

Chinese county-level grain bureaus issued ration coupons denominated by weight rather than currency value throughout the planned economy period, and this example from Nanbu County fits squarely within that administrative system. The "Southern Counties Rice Stamp" designation reflects the regional grain allocation network operating under provincial oversight, with individual counties responsible for printing and managing their own coupon stocks — a decentralized arrangement that produced enormous variety in design and print quality across Sichuan alone.

By 1988, national grain rationing in China was already being dismantled in coastal reform zones, but inland Sichuan provinces retained the coupon system considerably longer. Nanbu County coupons from this late period are often found in unused condition, suggestive of stocks that were simply never distributed before the system wound down.