ITALY, telephone token, 1979

DescriptionFrom the 1950s to the 1970s a telephone call cost 50 lire and you had to buy a token at a store, a 50 lire a coin wouldn’t work. The tokens were made by several different companies and had alphanumerics denoting the run. A checklist of run designations exists. Some are rare.A token is used like a coin but is not a coin. Rather, it stands for a coin without the value of the coin. Maybe its copper, but says its value is the same as a silver coin. Usually tokens were made privately, but sometimes governments got involved.The word “exonumia” is used to describe all kinds of things that are “like” coins but are not coins. I wrote a blog post on that subject. Basic categories: 1. used like a coin but not issued by a national government, 2. looks like a coin but not made for spending, 3. other things that we are interested in.