What is it? Token? From Where?

Windycity

Anyone know what this is? Given the number sequence I am guessing it might be token but from where?

SaorAlba

Israeli telephone token.

Zohar

Yep remember seeing these as a child in the 70s.

LochNESS

Besides the fact that "the number sequence" totally resembles an old rotary phone - even the finger stop! - those are totally Hebrew letters.

The bottom obverse word (over 7-8-9-0) says "yisrael" (Israel in Hebrew; starts with a Y sound). The reverse bottom word is phonetic, reading "te-le-phon." Modern Hebrew often spells modern words phonetically so if the coin looks modern, refer to the chart below!

The reverse seems to have a deer logo. My hebrew name is Tsvi, which means deer. If you wanna sell it, I'll buy it!

Zohar

Above "Israel" it spells "Do-aar" which means Post.

marcmoish

Yup sure is a phone token - the Post office system likely ran the telephone booths, and they issued those tokens.

that running deer is the logo of the Israeli Postal Authority. ..at least it was last time I saw in '70's.

Zohar

Still is. Their service has drastically improved since as well.

Hyperion

that's awesome. Classic Skeuomorphism? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph

Staircoins

<< <i>Skeuomorph >>



Learned something new today. Now I just have to work it into conversation somehow.

Thanks, Hyperion!

Hyperion

<< <i>

<< <i>Skeuomorph >>



Learned something new today. New I just have to work it into conversation somehow.

Thanks, Hyperion! >>



as a software developer, it's a nice buzzword to throw in, esp when dealing with UI elements. think about questioning certain things which make sense to older people but probably not younger, like: Radio Buttons. remember the massive old car stereos with the CLUNK analog memory presets? push in one memory button and the previously pushed one would CLUNK out? Radio buttons as UI elements are like that, but you'd be hard pressed to find an under 30 year old person who has ever seen one to know why it works like that.
VCR buttons are similar, the old cassette tape icon conventions...

ok, back to coins!

LochNESS

Gosh I love that word and I feel like I think of those scenarios often throughout my day. Now I have a name for it!
Why replace a UI system that's already worked for decades?

When it ain't broke, don't fix it Everyone seems to understand easily enough that the triangle means "play" and the square means "stop." I can't think of a logical reason, except perhaps the triangle sort of resembles the tip of an arrow.

LochNESS

Just admiring this again - in hand! Not sure I ever thanked you, Phil but it's a very cool token. Anyway...

A couple comments about seeing these in the 1970s. I didn't bother looking at the date before now, but it's from 1996. When I remember back to that time, pay phones were still plentiful and cell phones still a minority. Internet was just starting to reach households. MiniDiscs, small mini CDs housed in a square shell (not unlike the small floppy disks) had just been released into the music world.

This was also the last time that I visited Israel myself, from December 1996 to January 1997. What are the odds!