Telephone token

Telephone brands were once widespread Coin substitute brands that the use of private or public telephone served before they were replaced by phone cards. These brands have been in many countries in Europe, North and South America, as well as Israel, Japan and some other Asian countries in use. Until the 21st century, they were still used among others in Turkey and Ecuador.

Term

In Germany, the official name " telephone token ". Colloquially, the term has or telephone coin had naturalized. Among collectors, the term phone brand is often used (though he referred in numismatics and philately each other objects ). In other regions, the following names are used:

Earliest phone brands

In a larger scale phone brands were first used in Chicago, where public phones only accepted these brands. Other cities in the U.S. followed. U.S. phone brands in 1944 withdrawn from circulation and melted down to produce, among other cartridge cases. The oldest known phone brand dates back to 1885 and was introduced by the telephone company PAN in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Main types of phone brands

You can assign phone brands three groups, depending on their intended use or range:

Dissemination

The use of phone brands spread across the world, as they with inflationary currencies had the advantage, especially in countries that you could adjust the sales price of the brand takes the latest fees. The largest number of different phone brands in Brazil was in use.

In some countries, they were also used as small change substitutes, such as in Italy, where the gettoni Telefonico often served as a tip for smaller bills in restaurants.