Unidentified canteen token

[brandm24]

I was wondering if anyone recognized this canteen token. I'm not sure how to read the logo...MVTB Ltd. maybe? I was never good at deciphering comingled letters.

The reverse shows what looks to be a cello and bow so there must be a musical connection. Also a very small heavily worn 6 shows in the upper right hand field of the token. This may indicate a value. The token is aluminum and 21mm.

Thoughts on this anyone?

(Images courtesy of celluloid /eBay) 

Bruce

[FosseWay]

I've made some fruitless searches on a range of combinations of the letters (I don't know what order they should be in either). The Ltd suggests the British part of the Anglosphere, and the 6, if it's a denomination, would argue for somewhere with £sd rather than dollars. 6 (pies) is also a sensible denomination in pre-1957 India. I mention this because the only numismatically relevant images I did find while searching, though far from being matches to your token, were for Indian canteen tokens from the British rule period.

[brandm24]

It was listed as MVBT but that doesn't look right to me. I also searched different combinations but came up with nothing except a possible but vague reference to Australia. You sure came up with better possibilities than I did and I thank you for that.

Bruce

[Figleaf]

The musical instrument on the reverse suggests that the M stands for Music, while the absence of a C (for company, but also colliery and choir) points in the direction of a non-profit. An S (society, but also social) is also conspicuously missing. I would suggest that the T is the initial of the locality. The problem is the V. Coming right ahead of the Ltd, V should stand for the legal format, but I can't think of a suitable one (in German, it could well have been Verein). That leaves only the B. Band? Benevolent?

There's also the question of why a musical club needs to be Ltd. Perhaps it owned the instruments and protected its members from claims on the club by giving them limited liability?

Peter

[brandm24]

I've always had a problem with the Ltd too. How about a musical instrument manufacturer?

Bruce

[Figleaf]

A commercial solution is less likely, because the monogram doesn't have a C or an S.

Ltd. could be used for non-profits. Co-ops (looking at those now) so often go from "Cooperative Society" to "Coperative Society Ltd." that their most recent cataloguer, Rains, indicates them with CS and CSL.

Peter