The greenish sheet is for animal fat or plant oil, issued to a woman whose full name and address are handwritten in blue ink. One coupon is good for 5 gram. The pink sheet is for sugar, each coupon good for 10 gram. Both are printed on special durable paper normally used for official IDs.

In very good to excellent condition. The paper is strong and pliant, somewhat soiled on the verso but the obverse of both sheets is quite clean.

The dates on these ration coupons mark the time of the lowest levels of food supplies in the besieged Leningrad. By December 1941, bread was rationed down to 250 g daily for factory workers, 125 g to workers' families and office employees. This brought a sharp raise in mortality: 50,000 starved to death in December. The rations were raised to 350 g and 200 g of bread, respectively. About 60% of the bread contained practically inedible additives replacing unavailable flour. All other foods were unavailable. That is why we can offer these coupon sheets. However, the raised rations were still too little. In January-February of 1942 starvation death count was at about 130,000 per month. After that it went slowly down, to 100,000 in March, 50,000 in May, 7,000 in September. Bear in mind that the food coupons represented the right to purchase the specified product at state-regulated prices. In January 1942, the state price of one kilo of bread was 1 ruble 70 kopeks whereas on the black market it was 300 - 500 rubles per kilo, and higher.

Please note that the pen in our photo is for size reference.