When New York City introduced its subway system, one of the most enduring questions became how to collect and enforce fares. At the first the solution was to post employees to guard the entrances and clip tickets of riders, but that system was found compromised by some less than honest guards. So the turnstile was introduced, operating on nickels. Then, a rate hike to 15 cents made the turnstiles no longer single-coin operated, and rather than introduce a complicated multi-denominational coin operated system, the transit authority came up with a token system.

On this day, July 25, in 1953, New York City introduced the first subway tokens, purchasable for fifteen cents each, and the only kind of coin accepted by the turnstiles.

Further rate hikes introduced new tokens. A larger version of the Y-token saw the city through the 1970s, as the rate went up from thirty cents to fifty. Solid-brass “NYC” tokens were used 1980-85, replaced by “Bullseye” tokens and then from 1995 to 2003 “Five Boroughs” tokens. After than, all tokens were phased out in favor of the MetroCard system.