British influence telephone tokens
Bahamas
Walker's Cay is a small (40 ha.) island situated in the Bahamas. Its modern history starts with the construction of a hotel, marina and airport from 1935, making it a fisherman's hangout. The four squares were the logo of the hotel and marina. They are populated by a palm tree (upper left), sports fisherman's single masted ship (upper right), swordfish (lower left) and symbolic waves (lower right).
There were two pay phones on the island, that accepted only the tokens. A call to Southern Florida would cost $5 for the first three minutes, $1 per minute thereafter, so that the unit is probably equal to the US dollar.
Shortly after one of its ownners died, the island was hit by two hurricanes in 2003, destroying the hotel and marina. The island was deserted in 2004.
| Bahamas | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Filename | TWC1 | |
| Side 1 | WALKERS CAY quartered square | |
| Side 2 | 1 UNIT and TELEPHONE TOKEN | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 22.1 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.2 | |
| Notes | ||
| Source | Walter Wyzujak, via Parkingtokens | |
Bermuda
BDA / TEL.CO.LTD stands for Bermuda Telephone Company Ltd. This company was established in 1887. It was bought by Digicel, a Jamaican telecom operator and provider in 2015. The token is heavily inspired by Spanish telephone tokens.
| Bermuda | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Filename | TBA1 | |
| Side 1 | BDA / TEL.CO.LTD / arrow right | |
| Side 2 | 3 / PENCE TOKEN / arrow left | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel clad brass | |
| Size (mm) | 21.2 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | When the token is like new, it looks like copper-nickel. When the outer layer is worn off, it looks like brass. | |
| Source | parkingtokens | |
Ireland
The system started out as part of the British National Telephone Company Ltd. By 1911, it was part of the British GPO telephone network. This was taken over by the Irish Department of Posts and Telegraphs (P&T) in 1921. The system was regulated by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI). At this time, it used a mixture of manual and automatic exchanges. Development of the network was relatively slow until 1957, when P&T started to equip the exchanges more modern switching equipment. This led to a significant improvement of the system as a whole, while the network was still underdeveloped in rural areas. In 1980, digital switches made in Ireland revolutionised the system and brought in the rural areas within a decade. The national system became known as Telecom Éireann in 1983.
The Irish telecommunication market was opened in 1998, with Telecom Éireann, the national telephone company morphing into Eircom (Eir) in 1999. In 2002, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) took over from BCI. While Eir is still market leader, the fixed-line network is now used by multiple operators using a range of digital technologies including VoIP.
| Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:NTC025.jpg | ||
| Filename | NTC025 | |
| Side 1 | THE NATIONAL TELEPHONE COMPANY LTD / TELEPHONE BUILDINGS UPPER QUEEN ST BELFAST | |
| Side 2 | Blank but normally found with a C/M. number. | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | ||
| Source | From Irish Tokens - Barry Woodside | |
| File:GPO034.jpg | ||
| Filename | GPO034 | |
| Side 1 | TELEPHONE SERVICE curved with G.P.O. in central line incuse no rim. | |
| Side 2 | IRELAND DISTRICT curved | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | ||
| Source | Ciro Marta seen only (109) | |
Isle of Man
The first telephone company on the isle of Man was established by George Gilmore on 53 Athol street in 1889. This company was taken over by the National Telephone Company Ltd (NTC) in 1892 as a consequence of the telegraph act of 1892. Gilmore was retained as manager. The telephone exchange moved to larger premises at 10 Athol street and from there to 11 Athol street in April 1899. In 1912 all the telephone systems of the British Isles except Guernsey) were nationalised and handed over to the General Post Office.
| Isle of Man | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Filename | NTC022 | |
| Side 1 | ..+.. THE NATIONAL TELEPHONE COMPANY Ltd / 11 / ATHOL / STREET / DOUGLAS | |
| Side 2 | number | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 31 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | # 132 was assigned to William Karran Kermode (1838-1912), Coal merchant | |
| Source | © malj1 | |
Jamaica
Nothing is know about the token.
In 2008, Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC), a US based telecommunication provider, bought Columbus Communications, including its Jamaican branch, operating under the name FLOW. CWC folded its own Jamaican operator, LIME into FLOW in 2015. FLOW's only competitor is Digicel.
| Jamaica | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:TJA1.jpg | ||
| Filename | TJA1 | |
| Side 1 | blank | |
| Side 2 | blank | |
| Manufacture | Aluminium | |
| Size (mm) | 23 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | Four circular indents, 2 left, 2 right | |
| Source | Groenendijk | |
Zambia
Zambia became independent in 1964. At that time, telecommunications were the responsibility of the General Post Office of Zambia. In 1975, a statutory body was established to run both Postal and Telecommunications.
In 1986, this organisation was incorporated into a Public Limited liability company, Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) whose shares were held by the holding company ZIMCO, on behalf of the Zambian government. In July 1994, the Postal Service Act No. 24 separated the telecommunications division of PTC from the postal division. The former was renamed Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited (Zamtel). The Company is regulated by the Ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communications. A privatisation attempt in 2010 failed.
The tokens were probably issued due to inflation ranging from around 60% to 200% annually in the years PTC was active. Under these circumstances, there would have been no coins left in circulation to operate pay phones. By expressing the value of the tokens in units, their price could be adjusted rapidly. However, this feature would also have made the tokens a very good inflation hedge that the issuer would have found costly.
| Zambia | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Filename | TZA1 | |
| Side 1 | logo ZAMBIA PTC PHONE TOKEN •ITS YOU WE SERVE• | |
| Side 2 | 1 ONE UNIT •NOT LEGAL TENDER• | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 23 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.3 | |
| Notes | TZA1 varieties Missing apostrophe in IT'S
| |
| Source | afrasi | |
| ||
| Filename | TZA2 | |
| Side 1 | logo ZAMBIA PTC PHONE TOKEN •IT'S YOU WE SERVE• | |
| Side 2 | 5 FIVE UNITS •NOT LEGAL TENDER• | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 25.5 | |
| Weight (grams) | 6.6 | |
| Notes | ||
| Source | afrasi | |