Transportation tokens, sometimes called Transit tokens or Bus tokens, are tokens made for an operator of a transportation facility. They were used with his authority on his facility for personal transport or passage. They include tokens used mainly on buses and streetcars to accepted as payment for one fare, one half fare or one student fare. Toll roads, bridges, amusement rides and ferries also used tokens and they fall under the transportation token category. The majority of these tokens are 16mm or 23mm and had three main types of buses pictured. The old bus type with the protruding front first appeared in 1924. A second type appeared in 1936 and by 1952 a third type closely resembled a Greyhound bus. Many other tokens had the name of the transportation company, city and state on them. Many did not have the city and state, so a catalog is needed to identify there location.

More than 12,000 different United States Transportation tokens have been catalogued by John M. Coffee and Harold V. Ford. Their catalogs are published by the American Vecturist Association (AVA). Their most recent catalog is titled Catalog of United States and Canadian Transportation Tokens and was published in 1997. The catalog contains detailed description with retail prices for each token. The book is the 5th edition, hardbound, 870 pages and usually retails for about $48.00.

Looking for something interesting to collect and dont have a lot of cash then try transportation tokens. Most regular issue transportation tokens are common and priced very low. You could assemble thousands of different tokens for less than $1.00 each. These tokens can be collected by type or by state and can be enjoyed by both young and old. The history and availability of these tokens make them very popular as a collectible. The best place to purchase transportation tokens and the catalog mentioned above is eBay.