My “REPOBLIKA MALAGASY” telephone token, at 300dpi.
MADAGASCAR (1 of 2)
Two things....
A Telephone Token
Some Madagascan Notgeld
See more at... Madagascar - Page 2 of 2
French influence has been quite apparent in Madagascar’s coins for most of the last 100 years - the French language, the French demomination names (Centimes and Francs) and fact that many types were made by the French mint (those pieces including the privy marks of that mint).
My “REPOBLIKA MALAGASY” telephone token, at 300dpi.
The legend on the token is “REPOBLIKA MALAGASY”
which
was the country name from 1958 to 1975 (though used for some years
afterwards
on some coinage denominations). The only other design element is the
pair
of French Mint privy marks. These privy marks are the Cornucopia and
the
Owl, this combination dates the piece to an approximate period of 1958
to 1974. The diameter (18mm), thickness and shape (including groove) of
this piece are a match for the much commoner French telephone token
type
generically dated 1937 (see France Type A-1 in "Catalog of Telephone
and
Telegraph Tokens", by H. A. Groenendijk, 1989). This Madagascan token
though
is of a different material to the Copper-Nickel used for the French
tokens.
Going by the colour of the piece and the light corrison to be seen on
it,
it would seem to be made from Steel, (a Steel that is not attracted to
a magnet).
Here are all three of the series of Madagascan notegeld as listed, though not illustrated, by “Standard Catalog of World Coins” (KP Books, 36th edition, 2009). The lack of illustrations there is likely due to the fact pieces of this series are seldom offered. All are made from Aluminium.
Madagascar 25 Centimes token KM-Tn1. (Scaled to 200dpi,
image from Eugene Freeman)
The legend reads on this piece reads “SOCIÉTÉ DES MINES D’OR” / “25c” / “DE L’ANDAVAKOËRA”. The legend translates as “Gold mining company of Andavakoëra”. The image is scaled to approximately 200dpi per the stated diameter in SCWC2009 of 21mm.
Madagascar 50 Centimes token KM-Tn2. (Scaled to 200dpi,
image from Eugene Freeman)
The legend on this piece reads “SOCIÉTÉ DES MINES D’OR” / “50c” / “DE L’ANDAVAKOËRA”. The image is scaled to approximately 200dpi per the stated diameter in SCWC2009 of 28mm.
Madagascar 1 Franc token KM-Tn3. (Scaled to 200dpi,
image from Jim Jacobs)
The legend on this piece reads
“SOCIÉTÉ DES MINES D’OR” / “1F” / “DE
L’ANDAVAKOËRA”. The image is scaled at 200dpi and so can be seen
to be the diameter as given in SCWC2009 which is 32mm.
See more at... Madagascar - Page 2 of 2
This page started with info and image of the telephone token at May
2005.
Added "Some Madagascan Notgeld" at August 2005.
Added the image of the 1 Franc Notgeld at July 2008.