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Federal Gasoline Ration Coupons, printed in 1974, an uncut sheet of 16 notes, Choice CU. Following i

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:1.00 - 11.00 USD
Federal Gasoline Ration Coupons, printed in 1974, an uncut sheet of 16 notes, Choice CU. Following i
Federal Gasoline Ration Coupons, printed in 1974, an uncut sheet of 16 notes, Choice CU. Following its support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War of 1973-74, the United States was the victim of an oil embargo placed by the Middle East nations of OPEC on crude oil exports. In anticipation of a crippling fuel shortage, the Federal Energy Administration planned a gasoline-rationing system. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing hastily designed and printed 4.8 billion 1.5-inch by 3-inch ration coupons, borrowing George Washington's well-known portrait from the $1 bill. After the energy crisis peaked and eventually failed, the Department of Energy shipped the gasoline ration coupons to the Pueblo Army Depot in Colorado, where they remained in storage until the mid-1980s. In mid-June 1984, following the belief that Washington's portrait could fool certain vending machines into mistaking the coupons for dollar bills, the federal government opted to destroy the coupons instead of offering them for sale to collectors. Although the entire population of gasoline ration coupons were supposedly destroyed, someone at the Pueblo Army Depot had liberated a limited number of coupons for the ultimate benefit of today's currency collectors.