Category: Token
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United Fruit Co Tally, Jamaica
The unsavoury history of fruit, and exploitation This is my entry for Day 24 “X” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!X = Xaymaca (Jamaica). Xaymaca / Jamaica Jamaica on a world globe, from Wikipedia. Jamaica is the third largest island of the Greater Antilles chain. It is located south of Cuba in the Caribbean…
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1988 Turkey İ.E.T.T. Tünel token
A token to ride the shortest subway in the world This is my entry for Day 20 “T” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!T = Turkey. Obverse This is a token of the İETT, short for İstanbul Elektrik Tramway ve Tünel (Istanbul Electric Tram and Subway). The public transport operator in Istanbul, capital city of…
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1913 Ottoman Empire 20 Para Passage Token
An early 20th century bridge token from a fascinating city. This is my entry for Day 15, “O” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!O = Ottoman Empire. Obverse We have covered pieces from Istanbul previously, from a Byzantine Follis issued in the sixth century (when the city was known as Constantinople) to a more modern…
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One Pint, Upper Hutt New Zealand
A token for a pint of milk from a country which relies on dairies. This is my entry for Day 14, “N” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!N = New Zealand. (View of a farm from the NZ Pocket Guide website on seasonal work in New Zealand) New Zealand is a nation founded on farming,…
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2011 India Delhi Metro Token
A token from one of the largest railway-using countries. This is my entry for Day 9 “I” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!I = India. Indian rail India is the globe’s overwhelming rail usage leader, with over 8 billion passenger trips per year making up more than a trillion kilometres travelled. Japan is a relatively…
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25 Øre token Denmark Dyrehavsbakken
From the world’s oldest amusement park This is my entry for Day 4 “D” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!D = Denmark. Dyrehavsbakken (Pjerrot, the resident clown of the park. Read his story at liebhaverboligen.dk) Founded in 1583, Bakken, or Dyrehavsbakken as it is officially named, has been a firm favorite with the people…
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2015 Canada Fox Geocache coin
A colourful “coin” from a hobby I hadn’t heard of This is my entry for Day 3 “C” of the Blogging from A-Z April Challenge!C = Canada. Obverse The only text on this side is the word CANADA below an orange, black and white fox sitting among trees. There are four types of foxes in…
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1933 Budapest transport token
A small section ticket with great imagery Obverse The obverse features the coat of arms of Budapest with the year, 1933, above and ·B·SZ·K·RT· below. These are the intitials of what translates as “The Budapest Metropolitan Transport Company Limited by Shares”. In 1873, the three main cities of Buda, Pest and Óbuda, were united into…
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Aladdin’s Castle token
An anepigraphic token from an iconic US arcade. I mostly thought I’d write this one up as it is one which is hard to search for if you acquire one and don’t already know what it is. I have mentioned a couple of times in the Coin of Note newsletter that I like anepigraphic coins.…
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Duty Pass, W. Alexander & Sons, Scotland
An enamel staff bus pass (W. Alexander & Sons Leyland Tiger bus, courtesy Wikipedia) W.Alexander & Sons W. Alexander & Sons were a Scottish bus company, based in Falkirk, in the central lowlands. Halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, it has a population of around 35,000 (not to be confused with the local government area of…
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Bussoz Distributeurs Automatiques
An early French arcade token The token This token is very decorative, with a lot of pretty design and nice font. This helps reinforce the romantic notion I already had of Paris in the early 1900s: Sitting in a cafe, eating pastries, relaxing and generally looking like a Monet painting. I’ve written about it previously…
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Incheon City Bus Fare (South Korea)
Some very attractive bus tokens Incheon Incheon is South Korea’s third-largest city. About 20km from Seoul, it is on the west coast of the country. Lonely Planet advise that you can catch ferry services direct to China from here, or to the West Sea Islands. Close to the border with North Korea, the islands offer…
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Tongin Market Yeopjeon, South Korea
A token for a unique dining experience Tongin market Here is a token from Seoul, South Korea. It is used to buy a lunchbox at the Tongin traditional market. Established in 1941, originally for Japanese residents of the area, the market soon attracted traditional Korean street vendors and store owners. Markets have a long history…
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D Napier & Son check
A check from an interesting early auto maker Acton Vale is a district in London’s west. Described as “Motor town” in the 1920s, it had one of the largest concentrations of industry south of Birmingham. In 1932, 5,400 people, or 80% of the workers in the district, were employed in the motor industry. One of…
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Compañía de Salitres de Antofagasta Wage token
Multi-coloured Nitrate company Bakelite tokens from Chile In the 9th century, Chinese monks, looking for a life-extending elixar, instead created gunpowder. Saltpeter or potassium nitrate, is a key ingredient of this. Nitrate is also an important component in farming. When you harvest fruit, vegetables or grain, you take nitrate out. Putting it back in the…
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1999 US Penny with Cross cut-out
It makes cents to follow Jesus. The “Lincoln memorial cent” is one of the most well-known US coin designs. Abraham Lincoln’s portrait on the obverse has been constant since 1909 to the present day (well, 2023 as I write this at least). The Lincoln memorial reverse shows the Lincoln Memorial (which is in Washington DC).…
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Krasnolymanska Coal Mine checks, Ukraine
Exonumia from a war zone Three for the price of one today! Mostly because I believe these all came from the Krasnolymanska Coal Mine in Ukraine, however I’m not 100% clear on how each was used. Trying to work out the text and run it through Google Translate, I came up with the text “ЩК-АИМ”…
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Gettone Autofiloviario (Italian bus token)
I’ve previously posted an Italian “Gettone Telefonico” telephone token. As one of the first tokens I encountered, I have a soft spot for these pieces with interesting grooves and details not usually found on coins. Here is another Italian token: According to the American Vecturist Association’s December 1981 issue of Fare Box newsletter, this token…
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German 50 Pfennig Werth Marke
Werth-Marke or Wert-Marke (as one or two words, with or without the “h”) tokens are generic German tokens. Used in hotels, institutions, prisons and elsewhere. Here is one worth 50 Pfennig: Generic tokens have been used all over the world. They are a cost effective way of using tokens in your business without the extra…
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Café Copin 12 1/2c Billiard token
Tokens come in a wide variety of shapes, styles and denominations (values). Tokens also give you a small insight into an area or business that you don’t necessarily get from coins. This piece is a great example of all of that. The shape of the token is interesting. I describe it as square with rounded…
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Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway (MK&T) check
The railway that became the KM&T was incorporated in 1865 as Union Pacific Railway Southern Branch. It had nothing to do, however, with the transcontinental of that name then being constructed. In 1870 it was renamed the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company (MK&T), colloquially known as the Katy. The railroad survived for over 130…
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Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad check, USA
From Wikipedia, the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company existed from 1852 – 1952. It was also known as TCI, and the Tennessee Company. TCI was a major American steel manufacturer with interests in coal and iron ore mining and railroad operations. This is a tool check, from T.C.I. Coke. A tool check is a…
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Great Western Railway Pay Cheque
I have always had an interest in railways. Both as a practical means of transportation, and the romantic, nostalgic aspect of train travel. The railways, like a number of others industries in the 19th and 20th centuries, used “checks”, “cheques” or “tallies”. These are a special type of token, used by employees, and individually numbered…
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Gettone Telefonico (Italian telephone token)
One of the first tokens I got, in a bag of mixed world coins, was a “Gettone Telefonico” token. With no obvious issuing country, value or year marked on the piece, but thick grooves either side, it was quite different to the coins I was used to collecting. In fact, it does have a year…