Telephone token: Difference between revisions
{{Commonscat|Telephone tokens}} |
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[[Image:Israeli telephon token.jpg|right|thumb|An Israeli telephone token, or ''asimon'', used until the late 1980s]] |
[[Image:Israeli telephon token.jpg|right|thumb|An Israeli telephone token, or ''asimon'', used until the late 1980s]] |
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[[File:JetonKZ.jpg|thumb|right|123 px|Telephone token used in [[Kazakhstan]]]] |
[[File:JetonKZ.jpg|thumb|right|123 px|Telephone token used in [[Kazakhstan]]]] |
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'''Telephone tokens''' were once widespread medium of exchange for people wanting to talk on [[public phone]]s with someone before there were [[telephone card]]s to collect and use. These tokens were once widely used in [[Europe]], [[Israel]], [[Japan]], and [[South America |
'''Telephone tokens''' were once widespread medium of exchange for people wanting to talk on [[public phone]]s with someone before there were [[telephone card]]s to collect and use. These tokens were once widely used in [[Europe]], [[Israel]], [[Japan]], and [[South America]]. |
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Phone tokens started in [[Chicago]], where public phones would accept only tokens. These were used in the U.S. until 1944 when they were eliminated and most of the tokens were melted down to make shell casings. The earliest-known telephone token dates from 1885, when it was produced for the PAN [[Telephone Company]] in Saint Louis, Missouri. Rather than being deposited in the phone, the token was given to an attendant or placed in a [[coin]] box to gain access to the phone booth. |
Phone tokens started in [[Chicago]], where public phones would accept only tokens. These were used in the U.S. until 1944 when they were eliminated and most of the tokens were melted down to make shell casings. The earliest-known telephone token dates from 1885, when it was produced for the PAN [[Telephone Company]] in Saint Louis, Missouri. Rather than being deposited in the phone, the token was given to an attendant or placed in a [[coin]] box to gain access to the phone booth. |
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Revision as of 06:51, 6 July 2012
Telephone tokens were once widespread medium of exchange for people wanting to talk on public phones with someone before there were telephone cards to collect and use. These tokens were once widely used in Europe, Israel, Japan, and South America.
Phone tokens started in Chicago, where public phones would accept only tokens. These were used in the U.S. until 1944 when they were eliminated and most of the tokens were melted down to make shell casings. The earliest-known telephone token dates from 1885, when it was produced for the PAN Telephone Company in Saint Louis, Missouri. Rather than being deposited in the phone, the token was given to an attendant or placed in a coin box to gain access to the phone booth.
This practice of using tokens and allowing their specific value to float with the going rate for a phone call eventually became the standard world-wide practice. This came in especially handy in European countries where currencies changed once you crossed borders, but a token could still be useful.
In some countries, such as Italy, they were even used informally as cash equivalents.
See also
References
- Groenendijk, Henk A.: A Catalog of Telephone and Telegraph Tokens of the World. Leiden 1989.
- Targonsky, Paul: A Catalogue of Telephone Tokens of the World. Published by the author. Meriden, Conn., 1968