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, Order Forms and Paid Album Coupons as well as Free Album Coupons. 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:

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	Version "A"	Version "B"	Version "C"	Version "D"	Version "E"	Version "G"

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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.

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.

 
  Last modified: March 21, 2021

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