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From: iiasa!cossun!wnp@relay.eu.net (wolf paul)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Good for a Laugh: Polish Payphones
Message-ID: <9584@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 11 Jul 90 07:31:16 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 473, Message 6 of 15


In TELECOM Digest 10/469, Donald E. Kimberlin <0004133373@mcimail.com>
writes:

>         "`Since Polish payphone mechanisms were increased to
> 20 zlotys several months ago, 20-zloty coins have gone into hiding.

>         "`The payphone-sized 20-zlotycoins are selling on the streets
> for 200 to 1,000 zlotys apiece.'" (I still say cheap at a thousand
> zlotys -- about a dime U.S., isn't it?)

A Polish colleague of mine informs me that payphones were recently
converted to use a special phone token, which presumably is available
at the official rate at various outlets.

It is interesting how some coins cause such a strong public reaction:
The Susan B. Anthony dollar comes to mind in the US, or the small,
thick, and heavy 1-pound coin in the UK, which was very little used
until 1-pound notes were withdrawn from circulation. Here in Austria,
the 20-Schilling coin is hardly used by the public; in order to
increase its acceptance, the state-owned Austrian Radio conducted a
campaign in cooperation with the National Bank rewarding randomly
picked members of the public on the street with AS 100, if they had a
20AS coin on their person.


Wolf N. Paul, Int. Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schloss Laxenburg, Schlossplatz 1, A - 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe
PHONE: +43-2236-71521-465   FAX: +43-2236-71313   UUCP: uunet!iiasa.at!wnp
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