Beer Tokens

[arwkrite]

A forum member on a Midland based forum is turning up beer tokens with his metal detector. The reason for their being is questioned but no one seems to know why.
I think they were given as " change" by publicans when low value coinage was scarce and as refreshment vouchers for workers as part of a " Truck system".
Is anyone here genned upon such stuff ?

I think they are turning up in the Gornal area so perhaps Hoppy and Soup Dragon have holes in their pockets.:)

[Conrad]

Probably quite unrelated, and a potential risk to staying on topic, but..

I remember my Dad used to like messing round on the Fruit Machines in pubs, and telling me that he could use the tokens from big wins to buy drinks as well as put them back into the machine. I guess I was confused by why he would be winning pointless metal tokens when he was putting in valuable metal tokens.

[Crossste]

Am i to take it they no longer pay out tokens for the larger wins these days? Can,t remember the last time i had a go on one.

[oldboots]

Truck or Tommy systems were made illegal years ago (first attempt 1831 then again in 1870 amended 1887), basically people like navvys building the canals and railways were paid in kind against wages or in tokens that had to be used in the truck shop belonging to the owner or his mate (for a cut). Naturally the prices in the truck shops were exhorbitant and the goods,tools, food or beer of low quality. Often wages could be withheld forcing men to use the truck shop. Mostly they were only paid monthly and ran out of money quickly so "subs" were issued in the form of tokens or tickets. If you think about the recent abuses by "gangers" towards foreign agricultural labours you'll get the idea.

[arwkrite]

Am i to take it they no longer pay out tokens for the larger wins these days? Can,t remember the last time i had a go on one.

Never play the machines these days. I find the flashing lights , multi-options all far to confusing. Once they took the metal arm, topped by a plastic ball, off them it all got beyond me. I can still remember the Bell Friut tokens but not when they went out of use. I only ever see cash being won these days but cannot become used to seeing bank notes fed into them one after another.

The beer tokens being dug up are part of an older pub culture but still a means of emptying the working mans pockets.

[Oggwyn Trench]

Am i to take it they no longer pay out tokens for the larger wins these days? Can,t remember the last time i had a go on one.

The machine prints out a voucher which you cash behind the bar , i stopped playing them when it went up to 20p a go

[Oggwyn Trench]

This might shed a bit of light http://www.numsoc.net/pubtokens.html

[Rex_Rattus]

I remember when the law only allowed the largest wins to be paid in tokens, rather than cash. Those sort of restraints seem to have disappeared. I also recall seeing in Las Vegas casinos some fruit machines that accepted credit cards. Can you imagine sticking your credit card in one of these machines while you are playing? Now that is a nailed on recipe for disaster. Anyone who has read my reviews of pubs will know what I think of these dreadful machines, that I still refer to as one-armed bandits although they have long since dispensed with their arms.

[Wittenden]

The machine prints out a voucher which you cash behind the bar , i stopped playing them when it went up to 20p a go

I stopped playing 'em when they stopped taking copper.

[arwkrite]

This might shed a bit of light http://www.numsoc.net/pubtokens.html

Thanks for the link Oggwyn.:notworthy:

I have posted it up on the the other forum

[Conrad]

Some great history there, thanks for the education.

[Farway]

Just tuppence worth, I was once a one arm bandit repairer, the bloke that turns up to fix it with the keys to get into the workings

used to do the real one arm mechanical ones, with the Indian head on them, as well as the spinning reels with "hold" buttons, plus of course pinball machines, never see them now

The job had it's rewards at times, you would be surprised just how far cash can bounce once inside a machine, we were always very careful when removing a machine from a club or pub, didn't want the chink of coins that had dropped behind the base board to heard :whistle:

[Conrad]

And now I know who to call if I ever do get that pinball machine ;)

I understand they need constant maintenance.

[Farway]

Yep, still have loads of spares. The maintenance is due to the fact they used mechanical relays, and the contact points got burned, or busted, plus the rubber bumpers perished and filament bulbs burnt out

The added frustration was w@nkers who smashed the class, that glass is blooming heavy. I assume you will not be in this category? :D

[Conrad]

I haven't done it yet, but I do seem to remember scaring myself once or twice when mis-judging the height and putting my drink on the glass. Drink really does have a lot to answer for.