French national telephone tokens

[capnbirdseye]

I've photographed them side by side, in both photo's the one on the left is Israel & the other France.

both seem to be very similar apart from weight, the Israeli one is 5.10g & French one 4.20g so presumably would not work in both countries even thought the size & slot is identical

[Afrasi]

There are also some years between them. In 1937 of the French token there was no state Israel. The token from Israel is dated 1966. But I bet there were people trying to use the old French tokens in Israel.

[andyg]

I have the 1937 token in Zinc - so I presume they were issued with a frozen date...

[Afrasi]

You have that token in Zinc?    I look all the years to find it and never succeeded ...
It is very rare. Actually I cannot find my Groenenberg, but if I remember right it is from Algeria.

Yes, I think they were made several years with frozen date, but not after WW II.

[andyg]

It's lucky I never threw it out 
I've had this one for 20 years or so, Always thought it common

[Afrasi]

May be I'm wrong and the Algerian one has to be without PTT ... 
Still looking for the Groenenberg catalogue ...  Perhaps can anyone else look for this token, please?

[redwine]

Algeria, Israel and France are listed here
http://macollectiondemonnai.zxq.net/JETONS%20TELEPHONES/1%20jetons%20telephone.htm

[malj1]

I now have the zinc one, a tiny 18mm, that site gives no information on these, I should imaging it is a WW2 issue due to the scarcity of nickel.

The Algerian one, according to the image on that site, is in Arabic.

Not as nice as the one shown by andyg

[Figleaf]

My understanding is that the zinc variant was struck in and for France during the second world war. While the Cu-Ni variant is extremely common, the Zn variant is hard to find. Both usually show 90° die rotation in either direction. There is also a slightly larger (19 mm), brass type dated 1947. This one is hard to find. Another fun fact is that the Marianne used for the 1937 token is that of the 5 francs 1933, a very impopular coins that was withdrawn within a year.

The last post-war telephone token is also harder to find. Here are two variants (both sides are the same). The Cu-Ni variant has the mintmark of the Paris mint. The brass one with V has a mintmark S.S (letters turned 90°) of an unknown workshop. There are also tokens without a mintmark. The V was added because the pieces without were "decorated", presumably by bored users, waiting for an empty booth. Both are 24.0 mm (an older type is 19 mm), but while the Cu-Ni is 4.1 grams, the brass variant is 3.7 grams.

Peter

[FosseWay]

About the Compagnie le Taxiphone tokens: were these issued by and for PTT? It just seems strange that they carry no indication of the state telephone service, unlike the pre-war/wartime ones. Also, why V in particular on the brass piece?

BTW bit of a long shot, but the mintmaster/engraver initials for the year 1972 at the Danish mint were SS. I can't make out what, if anything, there is between the two Ss. It's not Copenhagen's heart mintmark, by any chance, is it?

[Figleaf]

The Compagnie le Taxiphone was an independent state service, split off from PTT. Strangely, there are known mules of the 1947 and the taxiphone types, but they are generally considered errors, not a transitional type. In France, the distinction between state and private enterprise has always been murky, but in the end, you know who's the real boss...

Not even sure that it is S.S and not a ball or point with decoration. It is just usually described as S.S. The centra element is not a heart. It is exceptionally unlikely that this work would have been carried out outside France in the ultra-nationalist days of De Gaulle. Keep in mind that French private companies had even minted official coins not long before (mintmark B).

Peter

[redwine]

The last post-war telephone token is also harder to find. Here are two variants (both sides are the same). The Cu-Ni variant has the mintmark of the Paris mint. The brass one with V has a mintmark S.S (letters turned 90°) of an unknown workshop. There are also tokens without a mintmark. The V was added because the pieces without were "decorated", presumably by bored users, waiting for an empty booth. Both are 24.0 mm (an older type is 19 mm), but while the Cu-Ni is 4.1 grams, the brass variant is 3.7 grams.

Peter

As a reminder http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,13739.msg94998.html#msg94998

[andyg]

It's lucky I never threw it out 
I've had this one for 20 years or so, Always thought it common

I have another one in Zinc - bought for fifty pence in the summer.



even better than this one,

[redwine]

I've just discovered another variant of the French PTT 1937.
The most common type of Copper Nickel has either L.BAZOR (maybe it's without the stop - my eyes aren't up to this) or just BAZOR on the obverse!
The less common type of Copper Nickel (different alignment) has L.BAZOR (I have 7 pieces) but there may well be another variant with just BAZOR?
And from Andy's picture above (L. BAZOR) it appears that the Zinc is the same. I have only 3 pieces with just BAZOR.

Copper Nickel common L.BAZOR (69)
Copper Nickel common BAZOR (15)
Copper Nickel uncommon L.BAZOR (7)
Zinc BAZOR (3)

(bracketed figures are the number I have in my possession)

Pictured below are common type of Copper Nickel & Zinc

[redwine]

Or perhaps there is an L.BAZOR & an L BAZOR?