Argentina Telephone Tokens
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.
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 | ||
---|---|---|
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 | |
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 | |
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 | ||
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 | TAR04 varieties | |
Source | ||
Filename | TAR05 | |
Side 1 | Dial and part of handset in circle. | |
Side 2 | Blank/groove/TELEFONO/groove/CM | |
Material | Brass | |
Size (mm) | 20,50 | |
Weight (grams) | 4,50 | |
Notes | KhodSA#AR07. | |
Varieties | TAR05 varieties | |
Source | ||
Filename | TAR06 | |
Side 1 | Dial and part of handset in circle. | |
Side 2 | Blank/groove/E.N.Tel./groove/blank | |
Material | Brass | |
Size (mm) | 20,50 | |
Weight (grams) | 6,50 | |
Notes | KhodSA#AR11. | |
Varieties | TAR06 varieties | |
Source | ||
Filename | TAR07 | |
Side 1 | Blank/groove/Dial and part of handset in circle | |
Side 2 | Blank/groove/Dial and part of handset in circle | |
Material | Brass | |
Size (mm) | 22,20 | |
Weight (grams) | 5,80 | |
Notes | KhodSA#AR10. | |
Source | ||
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 |