Le Taxiphone
The company Le Taxiphone held the rights in France for the invention of Mr. Hall and Mr. Rousotte of a machine that would make a telephone connection if it was fed an appropriate coin or token. The company held a virtual monopoly on development, production, maintenance and running of telephones, both in post offices and in booths. These telephones made only local calls and worked on tokens in the period 1924 - 1963. Tokens were called for because of relatively rapid inflation. In case of a price increase, their price could be changed and the machines would not have to be adapted. Nevertheless, there are two distinct size classes of the tokens: 24 mm and 19.5 to 20 mm.
The tokens were produced in two mints: the state mint in Paris (mintmark cornucopia) and a private mint that left no mint mark, but replaced the Paris mint mark with a decoration. Further research on the cost of a local call in France may throw light on the significance of the varieties of the tokens.
In 1963, Le Taxiphone lost its monopoly, long distance calls from telephone booths became possible and inflation had abated to the point where a new franc would soon be introduced. For a short time, there were transitional machines that accepted both tokens and coins.
Refs. G = Groenendijk, Henk A.: A Catalog of Telephone and Telegraph Tokens of the World. Leiden 1989.
Refs. KhodFR = Telephone and Telegraph Tokens of France and The French African Colonies. Viktor Khodzhayev 2016.
| Le Taxiphone | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| Filename | TTX1 | |
| Side 1 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Side 2 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 24 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.50 | |
| Varieties |  TTX1 varieties
| |
| Notes | GB1 and KhodFR10. The only token of this series on which both sides are not the same. | |
| Source | Redwine | |
| ||
| Filename | TTX2 | |
| Side 1 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Side 2 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 24 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.00 | |
| Notes | TTX2 varieties
| |
| Source | malj1 | |
| ||
| Filename | TTX2b | |
| Side 1 | •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• cornucopia | |
| Side 2 | •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• cornucopia | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 24 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.00 | |
| Die rotation | ↑↑ (KhodFR12-1) and ↑ ↓ (KhodFR12-2). | |
| Varieties | TTX2b varieties
| |
| Notes | GB3. Dots in legend. | |
| Source | Figleaf | |
| ||
| Filename | TTX3 | |
| Side 1 | •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• decoration | |
| Side 2 | •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• decoration | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 24 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.00 | |
| Notes | TTX3 varieties
| |
| Source | Redwine | |
| ||
| Filename | TTX5 | |
| Side 1 | P.T.T. and COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Side 2 | P.T.T. and COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 24 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.2 | |
| Notes | KhodFR09 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TTX6 | |
| Side 1 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Side 2 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel | |
| Size (mm) | 20.10 | |
| Weight (grams) | 3.60 | |
| Notes | GB6 and KhodFR14. About 2.25 mm between cornucopia and middle bar of E | |
| Source | malj1 | |
| ||
| Filename | TTX6b | |
| Side 1 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Side 2 | COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE cornucopia | |
| Manufacture | Copper-nickel | |
| Varieties | TTX6b varieties
| |
| Size (mm) | 19.50 | |
| Weight (grams) | 2,50 | |
| Die rotation | ↑↑ (KhodFR15-1) and ↑ ↓ (KhodFR15-2). | |
| Notes | GB7. About 1.5 mm between cornucopia and middle bar of E. | |
| Source | malj1 | |
| ||
| Filename | TTX7 | |
| Side 1 | V and •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• decoration | |
| Side 2 | V and •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• decoration | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 24 | |
| Weight (grams) | 4.05 | |
| Notes | Only know in ↑↑ alignement KhodFR17 and GB8. | |
| Source | malj1 | |
| ||
| Filename | TTX8 | |
| Side 1 | V and •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• decoration | |
| Side 2 | V and •COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE• decoration | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 24 | |
| Die rotation | ↑↑ (KhodFR18-1) and ↑ ↓ (KhodFR18-2). | |
| Weight (grams) | 3.70 | |
| Notes | GB9 | |
| Source | ||
| ||
| Filename | TTX9 | |
| Side 1 | V and COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE decoration | |
| Side 2 | V and COMPAGNIE LE TAXIPHONE decoration | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Size (mm) | 19.60 | |
| Weight (grams) | 2.55 | |
| Notes | Only know in ↑↑ alignement KhodFR19 and GB10. | |
| Source | Redwine | |