Thu 21 Jan 2010
A Token of Our Appreciation
Posted by TJ under Subway
Nearly seven years since the subway token was rendered essentially worthless, the former symbol of loud, sweaty, in-your-face Noo Yawk is still very much in demand, reports AMNY’s Urbanite blog.
Straphangers who have held onto the iconic coins redeem thousands of them every year, and sales are on the upswing for retro token jewelry.
“It’s nostalgia, and nostalgia is everything,” said Ward Wallau, head of a California company that refashions tokens into jewelry.
Last year, straphangers turned in 27,000 tokens to NYC Transit, up 13 percent from the year before. Those who redeem the predominantly brass discs receive what they were worth when decommissioned, from 20 cents to $4 for express bus tokens.
Around 13 million tokens still exist in people’s change jars and on their shelves.
Wallau buys mounds of them from the MTA to make jewelry and collectibles out of them; his biggest seller are the $125 cuff links. His company is called Tokens & Icons.
Benjamin Kabak at Second Avenue Sagas offers some perspective on the token’s 50-year run.