Durham Transit Token

I have never heard of these transit tokens, but I'm *very* interested ... I collect North Carolina currencies (mostly civil war stuff), and would love to find out more about these tokens.

I have one (and I'm just two doors from Mr Love). :)

The only difference is mine says "DUKE POWER COMPANY" -- not "DURHAM PUBLIC SERVICE CO."

For absent.canadian, a friend has a metal token from Erwin Cotton Mill #4 in West Durham. It's an old 1-1/2 inch metal token that reads...

"The E.C.M. Co. No. 4 Mill, 1260, West Durham, N.C"

The token has a hole at the top and the reverse is blank.

I understand the token was used for payroll identification. Mill workers were paid in cash. The number on the token identified the employee. This system was used until the mills started issuing checks.

~John

Those are pretty doggone cool!

John,
How did you acquire your token? Is it in better shape than mine... let's compare.

Hey, if you guys could get together and take a nice picture of John's token as well, that would be a great beginning a token gallery!

GK

I cheated and found a coin dealer in Oklahoma who sold me two of these Durham Public Service Co. tokens. One looks a lot like the one in the photo - brassy and very worn. The other is silvery in color and in very nice condition. Still - a very neat piece of local history ... according to Wiki, the "Durham Public Service Co." was in service from 1921 to 1943.

... I posted a blog entry about my transit tokens on my own blog ...

My family has some of these. My now deceased paternal grandfather drove one of these buses in Durham, and my father has been employed by Duke Power (now Duke Energy) since the late 1960s.

They are family treasures now, and I don't think we'd be willing to sell or pass them on obviously!

Emily

I'm a member of the American Vecturist Association (Transit Token Collector) and would be more than happy to provide details about any transit token you may have. Please email me at les_mccalip@hotmail.com.
Thanks
Les McCalip

I have one of these that is the same as dave Love's. It is in really nice condition. No rust or anything. I am in Florida and found it at a local self-serve car wash. If anyone is interested email me at zing94@earthlink.net. Thanks

Hello! I have one of these tokens I found it in my yard in the dirt(I was eight at the time)...It was found in Clover SC just about 30min from Charlotte NC where the Duke Power company (Duke Energy) is based...Mine looks exactly like the one in the pic. Any questions can be sent to Jail_duck@hotmail.com...I would love to learn the history on these things.

I also have one of these, I acquired mine in a coin collection I purchased in Seattle Washington. The collection belonged to the father in-law of a fellow I worked with. Mine is also a "Duke Power Company" variety and is in fairly good condition. I can provide pictures if you would like to send me an email address to send them to.

well...I don't have a token. But I do remember using them sometimes on the day-long Saturday trips to downtown from Miami Blvd. You'd put your fare (10 or 20 cents) into the meter beside the bus driver and at that point you could ask for a token or 2 I think for transfer to another route or maybe for the return trip ?(don't recall if they were an extra charge). Later on DPC used a paper transfer slip that tore off from an adjustable holder at the time and date. This saved from having to pay several times to get to your destination.
Another thing- if you "did't have thr right change" (drivers didn't particularly like that) he had a coin dispenser with levers on it that spit out coins of the different denominations. They were cool gadgets to me.
Now, with the new BCC starting up Aug 16 we can have some free rides!
Couldn't resist these comments!
Charlie Gibbs

I found the same token as Mr. Loves in some of my fathers things. It's exactly the same ,(public service co.), and I have no idea where he got it. Mine is about the same condition as Mr. Loves, perhaps a little bit better.

Hello, I stumbled across your page trying to find out more about these coins! We have been cleaning out my grandfathers house and I found a matchbox with 6 of these Duke power Co coins and 2 Virginia Electric power CO, Norfolk Div coins in it. Unfortunately my grandfathers memory is gone and he is no help telling me what they are or where they came from. Our family is originally from upstate NY, moved to KY for a time and spent most of my dads adult life in eastern VA so the Duke coins are a curious find.

I don't know where I got it from unless it was from my uncle years, and years ago. I was looking through some old coins I've collected when I came across the "Durham Public Service" token and thought I would do a little research thinking it was from a town (Durham, CA) just north of me..

There are actually 3 types of this token known for Durham, NC all of which are 16mm in diameter. The first is issued by DURHAM P.S. CO. and made in white-metal (an alloy of tin, lead, zinc that varies by who manufactured the token). The second is the DURHAM PUBLIC SERVICE CO. type show in this blog. It is found made in white metal, Brass, Zinc and Steel. The third also shown in this blog is the DUKE POWER COMPANY type. The DUKE variety was made in white metal, Brass, Zinc, Steel, Brass plated white metal and Bronze plated white metal. These Duke Power Company tokens were also used in Charlotte, Greensboro, High Point, Salisbury, and Winston-Salem, NC. Duke also used them in Anderson, Greenville, and Spartanburg, SC. Durham Public Service Co. took over public transportation operations on May 23, 1921. They abandoned streetcars in January of 1930 and later sold out to Duke Power in 1943. Duke divested itself of these transportation operations in the 1950s. I have only seen the exact year quoted for their Charlotte operations which was 1954.