19 mm
bronzw
3.7 gr
Here (http://runeberg.org/svindkal/1947/0512.html) is a PDF of a page of the 1947 edition of the Svensk industriekalender featuring Sporrong. The description of the company confirms what malj1 has said.
I can't immediately think of anything in Swedish beginning L V (or G K for that matter) that would be relevant to parking tokens. They could be something as specific as abbreviations for particular car parks.
Since we know about Liseberg tokens made by Sporrong, could L V stand for Liseberg Valorpollet?
Peter
Quote from: Figleaf on November 28, 2012, 06:20:41 PM
Since we know about Liseberg tokens made by Sporrong, could L V stand for Liseberg Valorpollet?
Peter
Not impossible, but every Liseberg token I've seen has the Liseberg branding (in flowing letters with long tail to the L and so on). Plain L V doesn't really cut the right image for Scandinavia's largest amusement park.
Finally got to the bottom of this mystery. The Sporrong logo led us down a blind alley: just because something is made in Stockholm doesn't mean it's used there. ;)
LV stands for Lindholmens Varv (http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindholmens_varv), a former shipbuilding yard on Hisingen (northern side of the river in Gothenburg). Shipbuilding had taken place in this area since the 14th century but the yard closed finally, after years of loss, in 1985.
There are two known variants - yours with the Sporrong-stämpel, and one I have with a blank reverse.
What the token is for is still a mystery -- parking, coffee, canteen... Your guess is as good as mine.
(Source for this information is an årsskrift from years back published by Svenska Pollettföreningen, which I was shown this morning. I won an item on Tradera yesterday and since the seller lives in Gothenburg I suggested I came and picked it up to save on postage costs and time. It turns out the seller is the owner of a coin shop here that I didn't previously know existed and has particular expertise in tokens. I spent about 2 hours talking to him this morning when I should have been doing something else! He is also planning on setting up a token research society here in the city, and I have been invited to the inaugural meeting later this month. So I may be able to shed light on various other mysterious Swedish (and indeed foreign) tokens by tapping into the other members' expertise.)
Pretty good going, FosseWay! This will give your new collecting interest an immediate boost. Obviously, we can't add much to his knowledge of Swedish tokens, but there's impressive knowledge on tokens in general here, so we may be able to help him with non-Swedish tokens.
BTW, in some Dutch households, LV stands for "lui varken" - lazy pig. :)
Peter
I must be sleeping.
Indeed the LV token is listed by Smith and Smith (1981) as Sweden 240 GQ. Both varieties are mentioned.
Likewise, so is the ERIKSBERG 10 token listed, Sweden 240 GK. The EMW piece is not listed, but Smith and Smith do include four other tokens from the Eriksberg works.
I am now not so sure about this token. The attribution to Lindholmens Varv is watertight, but I think we are all wrong about its use.
This token is currently on sale at hastur.fi where it is accompanied by paperwork from Sporrong that suggests it was ordered by Lindholmens Varvs Kioskförening - the association of kiosk operators who provided the shipyard workers with sausage in bread and similar essentials.
Maybe the kiosk had a jukebox or other type of amusement machine or perhaps for vending such as coffee or coca cola? even cigarettes.
Could well be.
It could even be that due to some twist of bureaucracy, the kiosks were given the job of ordering and distributing discount-fare ferry tokens, and that these are indeed such tokens.
I note that the LV token the Eriksberg token and the EMW token are not listed on WoT's page on Göteborgs Färjetrafik. Does that mean they are not transport tokens after all?
Peter
The answer is different for different tokens ;D
LV - I believe these are not transport tokens and are connected to the canteen at Lindholmens Varv. So these won't be listed on WoT (not under Göteborgs färjetrafik anyway) unless I get evidence to the contrary.
The others are ferry tokens as far as I know. They should be on the Göteborgs färjetrafik page but I haven't got there yet.
Sure, everything in your own time, butnow I know what to do with them :)
Peter