Past Times with Coins: The Advent of Transportation Tokens
At one time, tokens were a part of American every day life. There are literally tens of thousands of varieties that were used for neary every conceivable purpose as a substitute for money.
Rev. John M. Coffee, Jr. was a fairly regular contributor to Coins magazine on his favorite topic: transportation tokens. In the July 1965 issue of Coins, he took a look back at the advent of such tokens in “The Earliest Tokens of All.”
“Tokens are very much a part of the every-day life of Americans,” Coffee wrote. “There are tens of thousands of varieties of them, and they have been used for every conceivable purpose – always as substitutes for money. In a time of coin shortages, their advantages are so evident that one is surprised they haven’t been utilized even more.
“But one wonders where the idea originated. Who first thought of using pieces of metal similar in size and shape to coins, but which are good only for a specific purpose? Perhaps it all began with the money changers in the temple of Jerusalem, whom Jesus in a rare exhibition of anger drove out into the street. The coin required in the temple was a special piece, available only from the money changers for a premium. Still, it was a coin.
“One of the earliest uses of tokens – and transportation tokens at that – was for the paying of tolls during the Middle Ages in Germany. It all began because cities had walls around them. There were towers on the walls from which guards watched to see if enemies were approaching. And after dark no one was permitted to enter the city, lest he be an enemy bent on mischief against the citizenry. However, with the coming of the Renaissance, and the increased commerce that resulted from the crusades, people began traveling much more than they had in the past. It became increasingly inconvenient to the inhabitants of a city to keep the gates closed after dark, for many of them had business in the surrounding communities. Something had to be done to allow the citizens of a city to enter and leave through the gates at night. Someone whose name is lost in history came up with the idea of having special tokens made for this purpose, tokens which would identify the citizens and which of themselves would allow the bearer to pass.
“Of course the tokens could not be distributed free of charge. Citizens expecting the extra service of using the gates after dark are expected to pay for the privilege. And then there was the problem of the bridge just beyond the gate. Persons were expected to pay a toll to cross, and tokens would be used for this purpose, too.
“Thus, the earliest toll tokens ever used were struck in Regensburg in the year 1549. Until a few years ago the American collectors were completely ignorant of the existence of such tokens, except for a few eccentric geniuses who rarely shared their knowledge with the rest of us. But, thanks to the formation of the American Vecturist Association, information about these tokens has been made available. F. J. Bingen of Rotterdam, Netherlands – one of the few transportation token collectors in Europe – learned of these early transportation tokens and made an investigation of the records of German cities and old numismatic references printed in German.
“It seems there are some 30 varieties of tokens which were used on the toll bridge across the Donau [Danube] River at Regensburg. Some of them bear a picture of the stone bridge with a little tower in the middle of it, and some bear the crossed keys emblem of Regensburg. They are beautifully struck copper tokens bearing the Roman numerals I through VI on the reverse. The numerals indicate the type of vehicle for which the token was good. The earliest token bears the date 1549 and the last one issued is dated 1768.
“There are similar tokens from at least ten other German cities, Braunschweig, Erfurt, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hildesheim, Koburg, Mainz, Karlsruhe, Nurnberg, and Ulm. In each case they were used to pay either bridge or gate toll at the wall of the city.
“At Ulm there was a toll road leading to the city, and the right to collect tolls on the road was let out to the high bidder. A token was used on the road from Ulm to Heidenheim. The token was known as a Helfant, or elephant, because it bore a picture of an elephant, that being the arms of the Helfenstein family who held the right to collect tolls on the road. It is certain that such a token existed, but so far none had ever been found by a collector.
“The tokens used on a floating bridge across the Rhine at Mainz are especially interesting. The bridge was built in 1659 by archbishop-elector John Philipp de Schönborn. There was a toll booth at each end of the bridge, and persons crossing it had to purchase a bronze token. Those issued on the Mainz side bear the initials M.S. for Mainzer seite and those issued on the Castel side have C.S. for Casteler Seite. The tokens bear the traditional wheel of Mainz, and the letters B.Z. for Brucken Zoll, which means bridge toll. The face value of the tokens is indicated in kreuzers and pfennigs (four pfennigs equal one kreuzer). The toll for a foot passenger was two kreuzer, but Bingen has learned that citizens of Basel had to pay only one kreuzer, probably, he says, because the archbishop-elector had certain obligations to Basel.
“In 1793 the French captured Mainz, but they were careful to leave the bridge and its tolls intact. The only change was that now the tolls went to the French government instead of the archbishop-elector. The French continued to use the tokens, although their use dropped off after Napoleon became emperor of France. However, the French had the tokens counterstamped with the fascis symbol of the French Republic (as on the Mercury dime) with the letters R.F. for Republique Francais.
“Now, obviously there was no real need for walls around cities by the year 1800, but old customs die hard. The idea of charging tolls to cross bridges leading into cities, and to enter through the gates, continued. At Karlsruhe they charged tolls to open the gates into the 19th century, and used tokens for the purpose. However, the proceeds were given to the poor of the city. Thus, in effect, the old gate and bridge tolls became a kind of special purpose tax.
“The authorities at Hamburg, apparently suspicious people, didn’t like the idea of opening the town gates after dark. It was not until about 1790 that the citizens of the city persuaded them to keep one gate open, but even then it was closed tight at midnight. Finally, in 1808, the authorities permitted three other gates to be open. But not until 1836 did they finally give up altogether the idea of closing the city gates at night. In 1804 and 1805 silver and gold medals had been struck bearing a calendar on the obverse, and on the reverse a table giving the opening and closing times of the gates.
“Several varieties of tokens were struck at Hamburg. The first ones were in copper, but later tokens were made in leather and fibre.
“When there was more than one gate, generally different tokens were used for each For instance, at Braunschweig [Brunswick] there were seven gates, each with a different name. Tokens bearing the initials of the various gates were struck in brass and iron in the 18th and early 19th centuries. There was one problem: two of the gates, the Wenden Thor and the Wilhelmi Thor, had the same initial. They finally solved the problem by using the W token at either gate.
“These ancient toll tokens of Germany are among the most interesting ever issued. There are only a few of them in the United States in the hands of collectors, while in Europe they are generally held in collections as adjuncts to coin collections, and not specifically as part of token collections. As precursors of the thousands of varieties of transportation tokens that have subsequently been issued and used all over the world, we hold them especially precious.
“The next time you use a token to pay your gate toll at a subway turnstile, or toss a toll road token into a collection hopper, think of those thrifty Germans back in the 16th century. They started it all on the little bridge across the Donau in 1549.”
You may also like:
