MBTA bids farewell to an era: The last brass tokens are sold

The last brass token on the MBTA was sold at 10:23 a.m. yesterday at Government Center station to an East Boston woman on her way to go shopping in Cambridge.

Rubiela Velez , 47, a native of Colombia who spoke little English, was surrounded by cameras as the T's general manager told her the news and handed her a certificate and a fare card with $100 on it.

Velez beamed during the impromptu ceremony, saying in broken English that she had run out of tokens prior to buying the last one. She said she couldn't wait to show the framed certificate to her family.

At one point, she dropped the historic coin and it rolled under a photographer's foot.

After escaping the fray, Velez made her way down the stairs to her Green Line train as T workers began dismantling the last two turnstiles on the system.

When they unbolted them and moved them to a waiting van, several old tokens rolled out.

The T is installing an automated fare-collection system for buses and subways, which is 90 percent complete.

Fare cards loaded with cash will be the system's new currency, and tokens will be removed from circulation as riders use them.

Daniel A. Grabauskas , general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, is examining whether to solicit bids to have someone purchase the tokens, to be either melted down or sold to collectors.

Mac Daniel