Food Coupon — Fifty Cents
Food Coupon · Federal Food Assistance Program
Historical Context
Early Modern Program Series:issued afterFood Stamp Act1964, the coupons of the 1967 Series belong to the first generation of permanent program design. They still display allegorical slogans —“Agricultural Abundance” and “Healthier Families”— linking food assistance to agricultural policy and family welfare, prior to the 1975 bicentennial redesign that introduced portraits and patriotic motifs.
Printed by the BEP:the “BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING” imprint confirms federal manufacturing with currency security standards. The text “NON-TRANSFERABLE EXCEPT UNDER CONDITIONS PRESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE” makes it clear that it was not free legal tender, but a voucher redeemable only for eligible food.
In the collection:this piece chronologically precedes the Series 2000-B of this same page and documents what coupons looked like in the 1960s, when the program still operated with paper notebooks and purchase requirement (eliminated in 1977).
Key Details Visible on the Coupon
- Left vignette:farm with barn, silos and fields — motto “Agricultural Abundance.”
- Right vignette:family before an urban/industrial horizon — motto “Healthier Families.”
- Center:guilloché medallion with VALUE 50 CENTS.
- Header:“U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE / FOOD COUPON”, with “DO NOT FOLD” and “DO NOT SPINDLE.”
- Foot:“SERIES 1967” and “BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING.”