Tokens begin last hurrah at the T
Batch of 400,000 to go on sale in July
 The T token was first introduced by the Boston Elevated Railway Co. on Feb 21, 1919 and over the years has worn many faces. |
 As tokens are phased out, new turnstyles will be phased in, like this one at Airport Station on the Blue Line. (Globe Staff Photo / John Tlumacki) |
They arrived Thursday at the MBTA's money room in Charlestown, four black metal barrels filled with 400,000 pieces of history, the last newly minted batch of MBTA tokens.
While there was no solemnity in the occasion, it is a symbolic step away from tradition and toward automated fare collection, which will ultimately make the historic tokens obsolete after 55 years of getting Bostonians from here to there on America's oldest subway.
Officials said the last batch of tokens will begin circulating in July and can be converted to the new CharlieTickets and, later, CharlieCards, as the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority converts to automated fare collection by year's end.
Once this latest batch is spent and returns to the Charlestown collection room, officials said they won't be sold again. Roger Williams Mint in Attleboro cast the last tokens, though company officials declined to comment about the event.
The city's first trains issued paper tickets that passengers put in a chopper that ground the ticket to a pulp so it couldn't be reused, said Bradley Clarke, president of the Boston Street Railway Association, an educational nonprofit group of transit professionals and enthusiasts.
To save money, the Boston Elevated Railway Co. on Feb. 21, 1919, began issuing what it called metal tickets, Boston's first true transit tokens, though their history dates to 1837. Plus, Clarke said, tokens made the counting of fares simple, one coin for one passenger.
``So if they were rushing to catch a subway train, they didn't have to dig out a dime, nickel, and quarter," he said. ``In a way, the token was a time saver, both for the transit agency and the riders. And they lasted forever."
A bronze token was introduced in 1923, embossed with a big B. It was used until the mid-1930s, when Boston's tokens disappeared until about 1950, Clarke said.
Tokens were taken out of circulation again on July 1, 1969, when the T switched to a 25-cent fare and quarters worked in the turnstiles. They returned in June 1980, as part of a fare increase. Two years later, the first token-vending machine was introduced at Park Street Station. They remain in use.
There are also a few French 10 centime coins in circulation at the T, weighing and measuring about the same as a token. It was a secret at the agency that the French coin, which was worth about 3 cents before France switched to the Euro, could be used instead of a T token.
While the new CharlieTicket is an outgrowth of our cashless society and the T's need to analyze ridership, some say the token is still faster. The new fare cards must be placed inside a fare gate, processed, and then retrieved before the gates open.
``With a token it's a one-shot deal," Clarke said. ``You put the token in, and that's it."
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
