TURNPIKE CANCELS EXACT CHANGE LANES Publique Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 33, August 17, 2003, Article 15
TURNPIKE CANCELS EXACT CHANGE LANES
In line with the recurring theme of disappearing uses of coins
in commerce, Dick Johnson writes: "The Massachusetts
Turnpike this week began eliminating exact change lanes.
They were receiving just too many foreign coins and other
objects in their coin toss-in receptacles. Turnpike officials
said they were losing thousands of dollars every month and
hope to complete the conversion by Labor Day.This says something about the honesty of driving Americans,
who make sport of beating the system for a couple of quarters.
So drivers in Massachusetts must now go through the lanes
manned by toll takers, or sign up for their Fast Lane program
(where a sticker registers the number of times a car passes go).An Associated Press article ran with a picture of the debris
retrieved from one toll booth cash box. Most were foreign
coins with a few tokens and small medals, but also were casino
chips, and dollar bills torn in half. Sorry, Mac, paper doesn't
work in coin tolls.Even when transportation companies sell this flotsam to foreign
exchange dealers and coin dealers their loses must be significant
to close the change lanes."[I found a copy of the AP article at the following address, but
no picture. -EditorIn response to a query, token dealer Rich Hartzog notes:
"While I've not gotten any stuff from the Massachusetts
Turnpike, I hate to see any source of supply disappear!
Over the years, I've gotten some 18,000+ pounds of tokens
and world coinage from a guy who got all the non-US stuff
from a tollway in another state. In recent years, they decided
to destroy all non-US coins, as they were afraid the material
was coming back to them. It was fun while it lasted!
Figuring about 90 coins/tokens per pound, I sold some 1.6
million pieces (!). Tons of Chuck-E-Cheese tokens and
other quarter-sized arcade tokens. While I didn't have time
to sort all the tonage, I did find an oversized PA saloon token
in one lot."- 2003-08-17
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