Shop caddy tokens

[FosseWay]

Yes, the need to have a coin is becoming problematic in Sweden where cash is rarely used for anything. I make sure I have a few 10 kr coins in the car for use with supermarket trolleys, though many of them haven't been changed to accept the new smaller coins so I also have an old large 5 kr coin. These are now no longer valid and you can't even change them at the bank, so in effect it is a token along the same lines as various obsolete or foreign coins were repurposed as tokens in the 19th century. The difference is that my 5 kr is unmodified, whereas many of the older examples were stamped with their new owners' names, e.g. the common "PEAR'S SOAP" on French 10 centime coins or "ALLAN DAHL" on Swedish 5 öre coins.

[malj1]

Although my local supermarket has yet to introduce Trolley locks many others do and many Australians now carry a key on their keyring to operate these.

A variety of types available is shown below; these are easily obtained from eBay.

[FosseWay]

Yes, the mushroom-shaped ones are common in Sweden, with the round end the same diameter as a 10 kr coin (or an old 5 kr). They generally carry branding or advertising, and you see groups of them for sale on Tradera, so they are generating a collecting community.

[Prosit]

Trolly...sound funny to me. In the US most call them shopping carts.

Here is a link yo an old thread

http://www.worldofcoins.eu/forum/index.php/topic,7981.msg52486.html#msg52486

Dale

[FosseWay]

Trolly...sound funny to me. In the US most call them shopping carts.

Divided by a common language indeed 

I take it from Malcolm's post that Aussies call them trolleys as well, but whoever split off this thread from the Helmsman one has used a third term, caddy, that I hadn't come across before in this context.

It's kundvagn in Swedish btw, literally "customer wagon".

[Figleaf]

In the Netherlands, they are metallic and can be elaborate. Here are two numismatically inclined examples: a coin fair (blank reverse) and a charity.

In France, they are more often plastic and simple. Some are hard to scan. This one is from a supermarket chain. It can be used instead of a euro.

In both countries, they solve the problem that petty criminals will steal trollies for the coin in them, destroying the mechanism in the process. The holes in the Dutch tokens are for a key ring. Careful shoppers will put a tag on the ring with a photo in order to spot their caddy everywhere in the shop, but also to show would-be thieves that the cart does not contain a coin.

Peter