Description: Henry Goetz, Druggist Chicago Telephone Token. According to information on privateline.com from a 1995 article in Numismatic Review by Christopher Batio, "The first major evolution in telephone tokens occurred in 1907 when a Chicago druggist named Henry Goetz patented a round token with a cut in it running from the center to the edge. The token could only be used in machines with an attachment over the coin slot that admitted tokens of the same shop. This innovation came about mainly because store owners throughout Chicago Telephone Company did not sell tokens, individual shopkeepers and tavern owners did. At the end of each week the phone company would send someone around to empty out each phone's token box. The shopkeeper would have to reimburse the company for the 77.5% of the activations that occurred, whether they were performed with a legitimate token or a slug. He kept the rest for himself. This practice was instituted in 1901 after the Chicago Telephone Company was cheated out of $110,000 worth of phone calls by slugs. Obviously, the businessmen whose phones were plagued with slugs were losing money and welcomed the new Goetz system. The tokens and the restrictive attachments were manufactured by the Yale Shot and Slug Co. of Chicago, and soon they were on every pay phone in the city.The tokens helped cut back on the use of slugs, but innovative thieves were soon cutting slots into their worthless lead discs and the troubles started all over again. To combat this "counterfeit" token threat, Goetz kept coming up with more and more intricately cut tokens, and eventually adding grooves and eventually using grooves. Although Goetz-type tokens were used only in Chicago, other phone tokens were used in some areas of the country." ~ FANDOMNotes: Country: U.S. - Telephone Tokens Type: Token Years: 1914-1944 Currency: tokens Value: 0.10 Composition: Brass Weight: 4.1 g Diameter: 21.0 mm Thickness: 1.6 mm Shape: Round, with cut-outs Please examine all photographs prior to bidding. Thank you.
Price: 8.5 USD
Location: Round Rock, Texas
End Time: 2025-02-02T00:54:30.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Circulated/Uncirculated: Circulated
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Modified Item: No
