Russian telephone tokens

[bart]

I received this Russian token. It is made of brown plastic.
Any ideas?

Bart

[Figleaf]

Good for one phone call in Moscow. The legend on the top picture is TAKSOFOON (pay phone). MGTS stands for Moscow City Telephone Service. These were still around in the '90s, but, as in most countries, pay phones are disappearing quickly and replaced by mobile phones.

Peter

[bart]

Thanks Peter, for clearing this out.
I should have known this, but my knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet is not what it used to be.

By the way, you found a picture of an attractive example of a taksophone.

Bart

[Figleaf]

This model looks slightly crumpled, but otherwise in excellent state, but remember that the picture may be ten or more years old now. Whatever the case may be, it is far better than the plump, ugly looking models produced under communism. They were just not a pleasure to look at and often not useful when you needed to talk to someone. Personally, I like the modern, mobile models that are always close to you, with nice, rounded curves, gaily coloured, user-friendly and not too many buttons so you can get connected anywhere you like.

Peter

[bart]

I was not looking at the phone...

Bart

[Figleaf]

Then read my last message again with a different frame of mind

Peter

[Overlord]

I was not looking at the phone...

Bart

Neither was I.

"... but remember that the picture may be ten or more years old now."


"Whatever the case may be, it is far better than the plump, ugly looking models produced under communism."

[Figleaf]

The Soviet Union had a tradition of tokens that was continued by Russia and the independent bits and pieces of the erstwhile Soviet empire. Here are some, picked up in Russia in the period 1994-1998.

Ekaterinenburg (the former Sverdlovsk, the 5th largest city) issued this nondescript piece, good for a local call in the city. The letters GTS stand for Gorodskaya Telefonnaya Set' (city telephone network). The token is 2.7 grams and 19.5 mm.

Peter

[Figleaf]

The token tradition came from Moscow, of course. This piece was good for a local call from a Moscow public phone. I have been told that at some point, these were accepted as 2 kopek coins. Note the word TAKSOFON. An immediately understandable word for public phone. This plastic token is 0.6 gram, 20.0 mm.

Peter

[a3v1]

The Ekaterinenburg token, with its two parallel trenches, reminds me strongly of the Italian telephone tokens in use in the mid-1960s. Because of a shortage of small change coins the Italian tokens also could be used as payment for 50 Lire.
Regards,
a3v1

[Figleaf]

You will find that several other countries (e.g. France) used this trick to make sure "normal" coins wouldn't work. The phone token is an elegant solution in countries with high inflation: simply change the price of the token and there's no need to adjust mechanisms in an untold number of phone booths.

Peter

[Figleaf]

At the 2022 International Token Web Conference, I heard a complaint that so little was known on Russian telephone tokens. I intend to post some more pictures here to see how far we can get. Please add whatever you have.

Peter

[Figleaf]

Belgorod is in the South-West of Russia, now close to the Ukrainian border. ГТС (GTS) stands for Городская Телефонная Сеть (Gorodskaya Telefonnaya Set'), City Telephone Network.

Peter

[Figleaf]

Elista is a highly interesting place, the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia, which is part of Russia. While it is in the South-East of Russia, its native population is Mongol (with Russians forming a large minority after Stalinist times) and the city sights are Asian.

The ЭТ (ET) monogram stands for Элиста Телефон, Elista telephone.

Peter

[Figleaf]

Ivanovo is in Central Russia, around 250 kilometres from Moscow.

Its telephone token is talkative. The two words in the centre are ИВАНОВО ТЕЛЕКОМ (Ivanovo Telekom). Above and below is ГТС (GTS), Городская Телефонная Сеть (Gorodskaya Telefonnaya Set'), City Telephone Network.

Peter