Long before we swiped or tapped cards to get on the subway, we paid fares by dropping tokens in turnstiles. These cufflinks are made from genuine tokens used for Boston's transit system, known as "The T," not reproductions. We clean and polish them to the best of our ability, but they are not going to be in perfect condition. Each token measures just over ¾" wide—just a bit larger than a U.S. Penny. All cufflinks are soldered, not glued. The token we labeled as ONE FARE is from long before Boston's subway was even called "The T." When this design was introduced in 1951, the underground in Boston was part of the MTA—of "Charlie on the MTA" fame—or Metropolitan Transit Authority. These are occasionally incorrectly thought to be tokens for the New York MTA. This version is the same on both sides. The newer tokens, which we have listed as T & TRAIN, came into use in 1988. They were the same size and weight, and were added to supplement the existing 1951 stock, not replace them. They feature the T logo on one side and a stylized rapid transit vehicle on the other. We normally create cufflinks so one shows the T and the other shows the train, but we can also do BOTH T LOGO or BOTH TRAIN. T Tokens were used until 2007, when the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) transitioned to CharlieCards.
