Carlskrona Lyckeby ferry token-Sweden

[artsmith]

Carlskrona Lyckeby ferry token of Karskrona, Sweden. Brass. 49mm x 28mm. Bracteat.  Smith 400 FA. Used on the ferry to Lyckeby in the 1860's.

[Figleaf]

Excellent token. Must have been hard to carry around in quantity. What's written on it?

Last April and May, FosseWay spoke about a similar subject: the Ferry tokens of Göteborg. This post links to the videos (scroll down to Other tokens and medals/Transport tokens.)

Peter

[FosseWay]

I think the ink graffito reads Nettraby.

Nättraby (note spelling) is a town and harbour a few kilometres west of Karlskrona. Lyckeby (to which I presume the ferry went from Karlskrona, given the inscription) is a former municipality and now part of Karlskrona that lies to the east of the city.

There is no phonetic distinction between short Ä and short E in most Swedish dialects, which means that many words exist with either vowel, used interchangeably. For normal words, this was sorted out in the spelling reform of 1905, but placenames are a law unto themselves. There are many which have swapped back and forth over the years, including Helsingborg/Hälsingborg, Gävle/Gefle, Helsingland/Hälsingland etc. So the name Nättraby may well have been written Nettraby at various times in the past.

However, I found this page on a website dedicated to steamboats and ferries used throughout Sweden's archipelagos, which mentions a boat called Nettraby. The picture on the linked page is of the boat at Nättraby harbour, but it wouldn't surprise me if this boat were also used on the route suggested by the stamped text on the token. The age of the boat (built 1884) fits the token as well.

What the purpose of the ink addition is I don't know. I'd like to think it was a meaningful addition that tied that particular token to use on that particular vessel, but it's probably more likely that it is vandalism by an earlier owner who wished to record where the token had been used. There are plenty of older tokens in circulation among collectors that have such graffiti, placed there by earlier collectors or even museums.

[Figleaf]

How would a steamship company deal with a passenger who 'd get off at an intermediate stop? Let him pay full fare anyway?

Peter

[FosseWay]

It depends.

In Stockholm and in the earlier period in Gothenburg, the tokens are denominated in öre and exist in a variety of denominations that are clearly contemporaneous with each other. It would seem, therefore, that there was considerable granularity in the fare structure and you paid for the distance you travelled.

This became simpler in many Swedish towns towards the end of the peak period of token use, with cities opting for tokens denominated as K and L (kort and lång = short and long). Today, the fare structure is even less detailed, with three zones covering the whole of Västra Götaland (stretching from near Varberg in Halland up to the Norwegian border, and eastwards from the coast to Trollhättan, Skövde and Borås - a total area of nearly 27 000 km2, or considerably larger than Wales).

So it's entirely possible that on the ferries in question you just paid "the fare" regardless of where you were going. This is particularly likely if the ferry routes were limited in scope. The only obvious routes in Karlskrona are from the city to the mainland to the east (Lyckeby) and west (Nättraby), which are approximately the same length, and to Verkö (closer, but en route to Lyckeby). I think it is entirely possible that, if ferries were provided by the same company to Nättraby as to Lyckeby, that the fare would be the same. It is possible that the company began with ferries to Lyckeby and expanded its operation to Nättraby later, using on the latter route tokens taken from the former and annotated as we see in the OP. But on balance I suspect the inked text comes into the category of aftermarket modification and not originally supplied equipment, to borrow a metaphor from my day job.

[artsmith]

Thanks for the information. I had thought that someone had just written their name on it.



Art

[artsmith]

A post from the Facebook group Transportation Token Collectors:
Jesper Luckmann
It's interesting, this is not the first one I've seen, bearing the ink writening "Nettraby". That means an other village further up at the river.