Argentina Telephone Tokens

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Argentina.jpg

The first telephone network in Argentina was developed by US company International Telephone & Telegraph, now ITT Inc.. Its Argentine business was nationalised in 1948 under the nationalist government of Juan Perón, forming the basis of Teléfonos del Estado (State Telephones). In 1957, the name was changed to Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (National Telecommunications Enterprise), ENTel (logo below). ENTel quickly expanded and modernised the network until 1976, when a 7-year period of disruptive military dictatorship brought a period of stagnation.

ENTel.jpg

In 1983, the democratic Alfonsín government tried to undo the damage with the Megatel plan of investments in the telephone network. Though the plan worked, it eroded the financial position of ENTel to the point that the Menem government made its privatisation a top priority.

ENTel was split in two parts in 1990: Sociedad Licenciataria Norte S.A. and Sociedad Licenciataria Sur S.A.. The first was sold to Stet International, a joint venture of state companies Telecom Italia and France Télécom, dominated by France; the second became the property of Spanish de-facto monopolist Telefónica. Both parties received a legal monopoly for the period 1990-1999. Both used this period for debt restructuring and modernisation of the network, turning the enterprises profitable within a few years. The Northern part, known as Telecom Argentina S.A., was on-sold to the Argentine Werthein group, a family-owned investment enterprise. The Southern part, now known as Teléfonica de Argentina is still operated by Teléfonica.

Refs. G = Groenendijk, Henk A.: A Catalog of Telephone and Telegraph Tokens of the World. Leiden 1989.

Refs. KhodSA = Telephone Tokens of South America. Viktor Khodzhayev 2015.

Argentina Telephone Tokens
TAR01.jpg
Filename TAR01
Side 1 CET inside 2 circles in the 12 points star
Side 2 Blank/Groove/TELEFONO/Groove/Number (001 to 005)
Material Brass
Size (mm) 22,50
Weight (grams) 5,30
Notes KhodSA#AR01. Alignement: ↑↑
Source parkingtokens/Viktor Khodzhayev
TAR02.jpg
Filename TAR02
Side 1 CAT inside 2 circles in the 12 points star
Side 2 Blank/Groove/TELEFONO/Groove/Number (001 to 020)
Material Brass
Size (mm) 22,50
Weight (grams) 5,30
Notes KhodSA#AR02. Alignement: ↑↑
Source parkingtokens/Viktor Khodzhayev
TAR03.jpg
Filename TAR03
Side 1 12 points star.
Side 2 Blank/groove/TELEFONO/groove/blank
Material Brass
Size (mm) 20,70
Weight (grams) 4,30
Notes KhodSA#AR05. Alignement: ↑↑
Varieties TAR03 varieties
Source
TAR04.jpg
Filename TAR04
Side 1 12 points star.
Side 2 Blank/groove/LARGA/groove/DISTANCIA/groove/blank
Material Copper plated brass
Size (mm) 23
Weight (grams) 5,60
Notes KhodSA#AR06.
Varieties Watchit.jpgTAR04 varieties
Source
TAR05.jpg
Filename TAR05
Side 1 ENTel logo
Side 2 Blank/groove/TELEFONO/groove/CM
Material Brass
Size (mm) 20,50
Weight (grams) 4,50
Notes KhodSA#AR07.
Varieties Watchit.jpgTAR05 varieties
Source
TAR06.jpg
Filename TAR06
Side 1 ENTel logo
Side 2 Blank/groove/E.N.Tel./groove/blank
Material Brass
Size (mm) 20,50
Weight (grams) 6,50
Notes KhodSA#AR11.
Varieties Watchit.jpgTAR06 varieties
Source
TAR07.jpg
Filename TAR07
Side 1 Blank/groove/ENTel logo
Side 2 Blank/groove/ENTel logo
Material Brass
Size (mm) 22,20
Weight (grams) 5,80
Notes KhodSA#AR10.
Source
TAR08.jpg
Filename TAR08
Side 1 E.N.Tel./LARGA DISTANCIA
Side 2 Blank/groove/TELEFONO/groove/blank
Material Chrome plated brass
Size (mm) 22.35
Weight (grams) 6.80
Notes KhodSA#AR12.
Source
TAR13.jpg
Filename TAR9
Side 1 E.N.Tel./Number (1 to 8)/LARGA DISTANCIA.
Side 2 Blank/groove/blank/groove/blank/groove/blank
Material Chrome plated brass
Size (mm) 23.00
Weight (grams) 5.75
Notes KhodSA#AR15->20 (1=15/2=16/3=17/5=18/6=19/8/20)
Varieties Watchit.jpgTAR13 varieties
Source