POLAND, telephone token, 1990

DescriptionPoland followed the European tradition of combining the post, telephone, and telegraph services in one government agency. Telephone tokens were used from the 1920s until the cell phone era. In the 1990s they came in different sizes for different purposes.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.