?Lunch tokens

[Ron Whitfield]

I've found a dull silver coin-sized item with the words HAWAII on the top and TOKEN on the bottom, with an odd symbol in the middle. Flip side has the symbol and LUNCH over it. Was this a school item, or what?

[GeckoGeek]

Re: ?Lunch tokens

Like this? It certainly seems possible, but googling for tokens, it seems like most were tied to a specific school. I've heard about lunch tokens but was never poor enough to get them.

[anapuni808]

Re: ?Lunch tokens

Congratulations.

[scrivener]

Re: ?Lunch tokens

That probably wasn't a necessary retort.

The token in the eBay link is exactly what I remember from my days in school. I do not remember tokens being school-specific, 'though I suppose that might make some sense. The thing about those tokens (and any tokens, I suppose) is that they're only good for one thing, so while a certain amount of on-site control is necessary, there would have to be a wide-spread, large-scale scam of some sort for there to be significant damage to something like a school's lunch budget.

You didn't ask, but did you know that when educators study any data across socio-economic lines (such as, how do students from poorer neighborhoods do on standardized testing vs. schools in more affluent neighborhoods), the measuring implement is almost always something like the percentage of a school's enrollment who receives fully or partially reduced lunch-fare? This seems like a shaky instrument to me, but there hasn't been (as far as I've noticed) a more reliable standard than that.

[anapuni808]

Re: ?Lunch tokens

what? I was just saying how fortunate he was to not be poor while growing up.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: ?Lunch tokens

Like this?

That's the one, what coin does it match in size with? I'd say a dime...