5 Cents - Food Stamp Credit Food Town

Food Town was a regional U.S. grocery chain, and these fractional food stamp credit chits were issued to make change when federal food stamp redemptions didn't divide evenly into whole dollar amounts. Federal rules prohibited giving cash change for food stamps, so retailers issued their own scrip — redeemable only in-store for food items.

The regulatory grey zone around these chits was eventually closed by USDA policy changes in the 1980s. Surviving examples are common enough but rarely preserved with any issuer documentation.