The Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company (P.J. & M.S.S.Co.) was formed in 1877, and ran ferries from Circular Quay, in Sydney’s CBD, to Manly, a tourist beachside town, now suburb of Sydney, Australia. In the early 20th Century, the company issued numerous metal passes to passengers on a monthly, quarterly, half yearly, or yearly basis. The passes come in all manner of shapes and early passes were often enameled, like this one in red. The L on this piece, denotes it as a “Ladies” pass. This piece is listed in the Catalogue of World Transportation Passes and Tokens, as 480 EB

On the reverse, is the number, 1185 in this case. In the first half of the century, passes were returned at the end of their valid period, and a bond returned to the purchaser. The passes were then reused at a later time. In the 1950s, an article was published which drew the attention of collectors, and passes started being sold rather than returned. Following that, passes included the months and year they were valid and were eventually replace in the 1970s with paper tickets.

There is a more comprehensive presentation on the Port Jackson & Manly Steamship company and its passes available to watch or read in the proceedings book of the 2022 International Token Web Conference.