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What's a Free Album Coupon?
Some people are not satisfied to just collect the cards and albums.
Some people just have to have more. What else is there to collect? Completion cards for one,
Order Forms for another and Free
Album Coupons to boot. They were issued at the end / beginning of a run offering a
free album to you if you just mail in the coupon. What was the savings? A
whole quarter! Yup, you saved .25¢. The cool part was that with some of
the forms, they took the coupon and used it as an address label on the
envelope back to you. I also include here some completion coupons as
there is a bit of overlap between the two.
Are there different kinds of Free Album Coupons (FACs)?
Yes, there are many different kinds of FACs. I'll gladly show you all
the kinds I am aware of. I am listing every type of coupon that I am aware
of that offers you a free album. The letter notation I use is of my own device.
It is here just to make reference easier. I also have a list of Completion Cards
and I only want to use a letter designation once so the letters here may appear
to skip "F" but it is on the other list. The list of FACs is:
View All Forms
What Series ran Which Coupons?
Say that again? What I am trying to say is, for version "A", what series
had that type issued? Some of this is a guess for me because this list
only represents the ones I have seen with my own eyes. If you have an
image that you would like to send me to prove that something exists that
is not on my list, I will give you credit.
- "A" - The "A" and "D" versions are sometimes referred to as "monopoly
money" and if you have ever played monopoly, you'll know why. Many
people doubt the "A" and "D" coupons are genuine. Some claim they were made
up as a hoax. I have seen them glued onto envelopes from New York that
contain the albums requested. That's real enough for me. Looking at the
chart below you can see that the "A" coupons came out first. You
can bet they were a lot cheaper to make and were perhaps a test before
making the more expensive and appealing type "B" coupons. I have
seen two versions of the series 3 "A" coupon in that one is
green ink on green paper while another in red ink on green paper. Call it
my luck, but I have only seen type "A" coupons issued for the
US. An auction on a popular site showed me some new (to me) series 8 coupons.
- "B" - The "B" coupon is the coolest as it had graphics and also
asks questions that are answered in the albums (it even tells you what
page the answer is on.) You can find FACs in two possible original
conditions. Either flat with no creases (put in a tea box) or tri-folded with
two creases going from top to bottom (as in packaged in a cellophane in the
coffee.)
- "C" - The "C" coupon is really more of a
completion card. Completion cards are
described in another section. The thing is, starting with series 7, the coupon
could be used to order free albums. That is why I list it here. You can see the
free album offer for series 8 at the bottom of the image. The completion cards from
series 1 to 6 offer albums for the next series but at the usual cost of
.25¢. Series 15 does not even offer an album for series 16 at all.
- "D" - Similar to "C", I would classify "D" as more of a
completion card but it always offers a free album so it appears here. Completion
cards
typically offer a chance to pick up ending series loose cards and a beginning
series album. In this case some series 9 cards at 1¢ each but also offers a new
series 10 album free. Also note that you can get the ending series 9 album, but
that still costs .25¢. This type of coupon is also referred to as monopoly
money. There is a "D" type series 17 but since it is recognized as the
last series, there is no free album offer.
- "E" - The "E" coupon is
also a completion card. It is printed on thick cardboard and is almost square.
What it offers is very similar to the type "D". I have a series 3
thick card like this but it is not on the list as the series 4 album cost
.25¢ instead of being for free.
- "G" - The "G" coupon comes
from a newspaper magazine. It is a little different in that you had to send proof of
purchase along with the coupon to get the album, but with one coupon and 10
proofs of purchase, you could get 10 albums. Along with the coupon was a nice
graphic of the album, several points as to why you should get it, and a
picture of the product line. Thanks to Duncan Williams from Canada for
pointing out this alternate form of Free Album Coupon. Also thanks to Willie
Groombridge for proving the existence of the series 10 G coupon.
Free Album Coupons and the Series that
Issued Them
|
|
Type
|
Series Issuing that Type
|
Can
& US Versions? |
Form #
|
Dimensions |
| "A" |
3
- 6, 8
|
US
only |
170-62
|
4¼"
W x 2¾" H |
|
"B"
|
7
- 17 |
8
to 12 is Can and US - 7 & 13 up is just Can |
varied
|
4"
W x 2½" H |
| "C" |
7
- 14 |
Identical
for both (other series issued "C"s but they did
not offer a free album - like series 15) |
none
or varied |
2¾"
W x 1½" H |
| "D" |
6
- 15 |
6,
9 - 11 are US and 7, 8, 11 - 15 are Can |
varied |
3"
W x 4-1/8" H |
| "E" |
7, 9 |
Canadian
only |
varied |
2½"
W x 2-1/8" H |
|
"G" |
7, 8, 9,10
|
Canadian
only |
- |
4"
W x 1-7/8" H |
Did you notice that series one and two are not represented here? I have just
never found any. How about you?
Remember, I said this list represents what I have seen. If you have something
different, scan it and send it to me. I also said that this is a Free Album
Coupon list, not an exhaustive list of the different types listed.
I saw the type "A" series 8 Free Album Coupon go up for auction. Someone
luckier than I won that one.
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