Yerevan Metro Token - Type 1 - Brass

ANRO-1528

Obverse: Large Armenian letter Մ in center, separated by a circle from an Armenian legend reading clockwise ԵՐԵՎԱՆԻ, and counterclockwise ՄԵՏՐՈՊՈԼԻՏԵՆ. The words, which stand for
Yerevan's Metropolitan, are separated by two pellets.
Reverse: Same as obverse.
Specifications: Brass, 21mm, 4.06g
Artist / Engraver:
Mint:
Edge:

Types and Varieties of Yerevan Metro Tokens

By L. A. Saryan Ph. D.

Armenian Numismatic Journal Vol. XXVI (2000) p.109-112

Tokens are important numismatic items that often closely resemble coins and serve a specialized monetary function. Like coins, tokens are generally round and made of metal, but they may come in every conceivable shape (square, oval, rectangular, triangular, etc.) and material (various metals and alloys, fiberboard, rubber, plastic, cardboard, and paper). Sometimes classified as exonumia, tokens are circulated as substitutes for small change when coinage is scarce. Tokens have been extensively used worldwide for the payment of transportation and parking fares. Merchants such as taverns and restaurants have issued metallic "store cards" and "good for" tokens to advertise and promote their establishments. Employers would sometimes distribute tokens in lieu of cash for use in company stores (such as remote lumber and mining camps). Among the Armenians, paper tokens or chits issued by churches and merchants in the nineteenth century Ottoman Empire are known, but for the most part modern Armenian tokens have not been studied.

Armenian transportation tokens, in particular, do not appear to have been investigated in any detail and I am unaware of any literature that mentions or describes them. The purpose of this article is to provide a preliminary listing of four types and several varieties of subway tokens from Armenia. Hopefully, this will serve as an introduction to the topic and will stimulate the interest of Armenian collectors. As more information is gathered it will be shared with readers of this journal.

The first subway in the world was constructed in London between 1860 and 1863. Within the USSR, subway construction began in Moscow in 1932 (first line opened in 1935). The Yerevan Metropolitan became the eighth underground urban system to be constructed in the USSR. Construction began in 1972, and the system opened for use on March 7, 1981. The design work was assigned to "Haypettransnakhakidz," the Armenian government transportation design firm. In Yerevan, as was the case elsewhere within the USSR, lavish attention was devoted to construction and aesthetic design. Station entrances and vestibules were richly decorated with art and sculpture, and technical operating standards were quite high. Noted architects were commissioned to design the individual stations. Users have generally praised the artwork, station design, and overall efficiency of the Yerevan Metropolitan system.

The Yerevan Metro ranks as one of the noteworthy accomplishments of Armenia during the Soviet period.
The Yerevan Metro was designed to move large numbers of people rapidly and efficiently into and out of Armenia's capital. It has the additional benefit of reducing traffic congestion and air pollution associated with automobiles within the city. Cars became widely available in Armenia during the 1960's and 1970's, and a solution had to be found for the rapidly increasing number of vehicles on the city streets. Downtown Yerevan was not designed to accommodate a large amount of vehicular traffic; there are no expressways as such and only a very limited amount of space is available for parking.

Construction of the Yerevan subway was a remarkable feat of engineering, since most of the tunneling had to be carried out through solid rock and variations in the city's terrain called for unusual technical adaptations. Yerevan is situated in a hemispherical bowl on the Ararat plain with differences of over 1000 feet in altitude from one district to the other, and these topographic variations were taken into account during planning and construction. Seismically resistant joints are used in the construction and huge escalators extending several feet into the ground are used to bring passengers to the station platforms.

The original line runs approximately north and south for a distance of about 12 kilometers (8 miles) and comprises nine stations. From 1981 to 1987, the number of passengers carried annually increased from 14 million to 31 million. Extensions and branches of the main line are either planned or under construction.

During the Soviet period, transit fares were nominal and designed to encourage ridership. In 1987, while on a visit to Yerevan, I rode on the Metro and noted that it was filled with passengers even at off-peak hours when commuting to employment was not an issue.

Tokens are accepted for payment of transit fares on the Yerevan Metropolitan. Four distinct major varieties (designated as types in the catalog below) are recorded here: one of brass (showing a large Armenian letter V and an Armenian legend on each side), and three made of orange, brown, or black plastic (each showing a large V and legend
on one side and a depiction of the equestrian statue of David of Sassoun on the other side). The four types are listed in their presumed chronological sequence. Several minor varieties (designated by decimal numbers) are also noted and many others undoubtedly await discovery.

A few observations on the tokens are in order. Only one example each of types 1 and 2 were available for study, and just three examples of type 3. Through the courtesy of fellow collectors and researchers Manuel Panossian and Stepan Dulgarian, however, 50 examples of the black plastic type 4 were obtained in Yerevan in the fall of 1999 and it was thus possible to study their fabric in some detail. Careful examination indicates that the plastic tokens are probably cast in molds (injection molding). Casting sprues are not normally visible, but on some examples a small area on the edge is seen where a sprue may have been filed or chipped off after manufacture. On a few examples evidence of incomplete filling of the molds can be noted. The faces of the black tokens appear to be fairly resistant to wear. Rather, as they are used, the plastic tokens tend to chip gradually on the edges. Examples in the best condition have the edges intact.

The availability of 50 examples of the black plastic token also made it possible to search the lot for manufacturing varieties. Varieties that appear to have been caused by damage while in circulation are not listed. Several different varieties were found and these are described in the catalog below.

In addition to the type 4 varieties, the single available example of the orange plastic 2.1 shows a double struck obverse die (as for variety 4.1) but with the undertype shifted very slightly to the right. This is an important variety, but with only one example available it is not yet possible to estimate its rarity. Examination of the brown tokens showed one with three parallel diagonal lines under the horse in addition to two normal examples.