Sweden telephone tokens
Introduction
In 1853, the Swedish government established Kongliga Elecktriska Telegraf-Werket (the Royal Electrical Telegraph Works), an independent, profit-based state enterprise. Its name was changed to Kongliga Telegrafverket in 1871, and to Kungliga Telegrafverket (KTV) in 1903. The telephone was introduced to Sweden in 1880. While private networks developed in cities, KTV set up a network connecting ministries and state agencies in Stockholm. From 1883, KTV bought up small existing private networks and connected them to their network until, in 1920, it obtained a de facto monopoly, known as Rikstelefon (National Telephone), by buying its last big competitor, Stockholms Allmänna Telefon AB. In 1953, KTV was renamed Televerket. The KTV, Rikstelefon and Televerket logo is known as Nordstjärnan (the North Star), a 5-pointed star between bolts. The bolts are not meant as lightning. Photo: @fotojagaren
From the First World War on, telephone technology development in Sweden was in the hands of Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson, better known today simply as Ericsson. It was responsible for the introduction of automatic telephone exchanges, beginning in 1924. It also invented a Swedish style mobile phone in 1956: a bakelite telephone with dial sitting on the dashboard of a car and a 30 kilo battery setup in the boot. In 1992, the regulatory part of Televerket became Telestyrelsen (National Telecommunications Agency) while the operative part of the company was privatised as Telia AB in 1993. In search of scale, Telia merged with its Finnish counterpart to form Telia Sonera AB in 2003. By this time, a public telephone model suitable for telephone cards and coins had been developed, but was proven unnecessary. By 2000, telephone booths had largely disappeared, due to the rise in use of mobile phones.
Comprehensive history and tokens of swedish Telephone (in Swedish) [1]
Region numbers
The numbers on the KTV tokens run from 1 to 19. Before 1969, there were six telephone districts: 1 Malmö, 2 Göteborg, 3 Norrköping, 4 Stockholm, 5 Gävle, 6 Sundsvall. They are the first digit on the TELE tokens. The second digit represents a regional office. After 1969, there were four districts: 1 South (Malmö), 2 West (Göteborg), 3 East (Stockholm), 4 North (Sundsvall). The function of the 6-digit numbers is not clear.
The tokens
The 1941 public telephones would make local calls only and accept only 10 öre coins. From 1953, machines that accepted 3 denominations, 10 öre, 25 öre and 1 krona, were introduced for long distance calls. Later model public phones would also accept 50 öre & 5 kronor coins. Most Swedish telephone tokens are for testing, in particular for calibration of the coin rejection mechanism. They were not meant for clients of Televerket.
Catalogue
| Stockholms Bell Telefon Aktiebolag 1882-1888 | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:TSW-SBT1.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-SBT1 | |
| Side 1 | Stockholms Bell Telefon Aktiebolag (crossed Mouth pieces) | |
| Side 2 | Brakteat | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 29 x 20 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | Oval, Brakteat, Stockholmpolletter 5D.1.1 | |
| Source | sandström | |
| File:TSW-SBT2.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-SBT2 | |
| Side 1 | Stockholms Bell Telefon Aktiebolag (crossed Mouth pieces) | |
| Side 2 | Brakteat | |
| Manufacture | copper | |
| Size (mm) | 29 x 20 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | Oval, Brakteat, Stockholmpolletter 5D.1.2 | |
| Source | sandström | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-SBT3 | |
| Side 1 | Stockholms Bell Telefon Aktiebolag (crossed Mouth pieces) | |
| Side 2 | Brakteat | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | 18 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | Round, Brakteat, Stockholmpolletter 5D.1.4
Photo: Magnus Wijk, Myntauktioner i Sverige, | |
| Source | sandström | |
| File:TSW-SBT4.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-SBT4 | |
| Side 1 | Stockholms Bell Telefon Aktiebolag (crossed Mouth pieces) | |
| Side 2 | Brakteat | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | 18 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | Round, Brakteat, both sides clipped,
Stockholmpolletter 5D.1.5 | |
| Source | sandström | |
| File:TSW-SBT5.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-SBT5 | |
| Side 1 | Stockholms Bell Telefon Aktiebolag (crossed Mouth pieces) | |
| Side 2 | Brakteat | |
| Manufacture | White Metal | |
| Size (mm) | 18 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | Round, Brakteat, Stockholmpolletter 5D.1.3 | |
| Source | sandström | |
| Svea Hallen 1890s | ||
| ||
| Filename | TSW-SH1 | |
| Side 1 | Svea Hallen / Telefon (with a pearl border) | |
| Side 2 | Blank | |
| Manufacture | Copper | |
| Size (mm) | 40 x 22 | |
| Weight (grams) | 5.49 | |
| Notes | Private token for telephone in an old swimming pool, Stockholm,
Photo: Magnus Wijk, Myntauktioner i Sverige, Stockholmpolletter 7A.5.2 | |
| Source | sandström | |
| Kungliga Telegrafverket (KTV)1903-1945 | ||
| ||
| Filename | TSW-KTV-1 | |
| Side 1 | logo (6 bolts), K.T.V. (Kungliga Telegraf Verket) | |
| Side 2 | region number (1-2 digits) | |
| Manufacture | Copper with centre hole | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre TSW-KTV-1 Varieties
| |
| Source | Groenendijk | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-KTV-2 | |
| Side 1 | logo (6 bolts), K.T.V. (Kungliga Telegraf Verket) | |
| Side 2 | region number (1-2 digits) | |
| Manufacture | Brass with centre hole | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre | |
| Source | Groenendijk | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-KTV-3A | |
| Side 1 | logo (6 bolts), K.T.V. (Kungliga Telegraf Verket) | |
| Side 2 | region number (1-2 digits) or blank | |
| Manufacture | White Metal coated Brass with centre hole | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre | |
| Source | Auction | |
| Telegrafverket (TV)1946-1953 | ||
| File:TSW-TV-1.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-TV-1 | |
| Side 1 | small low crown T.V.(with Serifs)
can also be found with T.V (missing last dot). | |
| Side 2 | number in centre 4.5mm ,(numbers 1,2 & 17,18) | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre, used 1950-53 | |
| Source | sandström | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-TV-2 | |
| Side 1 | small high crown T.V.(with Serifs) | |
| Side 2 | number on bottom edge 5.5mm, (numbers 1,2 & 17,18) | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre, used 1950-53 TSW-TV-2 Varieties | |
| Source | sandström | |
| File:TSW-TV-3.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-TV-3 | |
| Side 1 | (3 small crowns with TV underneath)2.5mm | |
| Side 2 | number on bottom edge 5.5mm ,(numbers 1,2 & 17,18) | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre, used 1950-53 TSW-TV-3 Varieties | |
| Source | sandström | |
| File:TSW-TV-4.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-TV-4 | |
| Side 1 | (3 large crowns with large TV underneath)5mm | |
| Side 2 | number on bottom edge 5.7mm ,(numbers 1,2 & 17,18) | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre, used 1950-53 TSW-TV-4 Varieties | |
| Source | sandström | |
| Televerket (Tele)1953-1993 | ||
| ||
| Filename | TSW2 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (4 bolts) / TELE | |
| Side 2 | region number (2 digits) | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 15 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 10 öre, used 1954-1980 | |
| Source | Groenendijk | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW3 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (4 bolts) / TELE | |
| Side 2 | region number (2 digits) | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 17 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 25 öre, used 1954-1980 | |
| Source | Groenendijk | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW4 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (4 bolts) / TELE | |
| Side 2 | region number (2 digits) / serial number (5 digits) | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 25 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 1 Kroner, used 1954-1980 | |
| Source | Sandström | |
| File:TSW-TT-1.jpg | ||
| Filename | TSW-TT-1 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (8 bolts) | |
| Side 2 | TILLHÖR (property of)/ TELEVERKET | |
| Manufacture | Nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 17 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 25 öre, 1980, only used for 6 months. | |
| Source | Sandström | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-TT-2 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (8 bolts) | |
| Side 2 | TILLHÖR (property of)/ TELEVERKET | |
| Manufacture | copper plated Nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 17 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 25 öre, used 1981-1987 | |
| Source | Sandström | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-TT-3 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (8 bolts) | |
| Side 2 | TILLHÖR (property of)/ TELEVERKET | |
| Manufacture | copper plated Nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 22 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 50 öre TSW-TT-3 Varieties | |
| Source | Sandström | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-TT-4 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (8 bolts) | |
| Side 2 | TILLHÖR (property of) / TELEVERKET | |
| Manufacture | Nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 25 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 1 krona, 1980, only used for 6 months. | |
| Source | Sandström | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-TT-5 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (8 bolts) | |
| Side 2 | TILLHÖR (property of) / TELEVERKET | |
| Manufacture | copper plated Nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 25 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 1 krona, used 1981-? TSW-TT-5 Varieties
| |
| Source | Sandström | |
| ||
| Filename | TSW-TT-6 | |
| Side 1 | Televerket logo (8 bolts) | |
| Side 2 | TILLHÖR (property of) / TELEVERKET / serial number (6 digits) | |
| Manufacture | copper plated Nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 28 | |
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | 5 kronor, used 1982-? | |
| Source | Sandström | |
| Associated tokens | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Filename | TSW-ASS-1 | |
| Side 1 | L.M.Ericsson & Co / Stockholm | |
| Side 2 | 99 | |
| Manufacture | White Metal with 2 holes top & bottom | |
| Size (mm) | ||
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | ||
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TSW-ASS-2 | |
| Side 1 | L.M.Ericsson & Co / Stockholm | |
| Side 2 | 712 | |
| Manufacture | copper with 2 holes top & bottom | |
| Size (mm) | ||
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | round | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TSW-ASS-3 | |
| Side 1 | 1 / Liter / I.B. | |
| Side 2 | Televerkets logo | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | ||
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | round , I.B. stands for Igelfors Bruk, unknown why
Televerkets logo is on the back of a dairy token | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TSW-ASS-4 | |
| Side 1 | 2 / Liter / I.B. | |
| Side 2 | Televerkets logo | |
| Manufacture | brass | |
| Size (mm) | ||
| Weight (grams) | ||
| Notes | Square , I.B. stands for Igelfors Bruk, unknown why
Televerkets logo is on the back of a dairy token | |
| Source | ||
References
Groenendijk, Henk A.: A Catalog of Telephone and Telegraph Tokens of the World. Leiden 1989.
Arne Sandström Tele tokens PDF (SW)