Collecting Phonecards

Last Updated on 16th May 2002

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Phonecards are a very big collectable worldwide, Over 200 countries now produce Phonecards. The first ever Phonecard was made in Italy in 1976, since then they have become more and more popular to collectors all over the world. There are many types of Phonecards that are produced - Magnetic - Chip - Optical - Remote - GSM are the main types that are used & collected. Others do exsist but are not widely used than the main types. Below you will see some examples of these cards.

Australian $2 Phonecard
Japanese Phonecard with
a Ken Done Painting depicted

MAGNETIC PHONECARDS - There are many different types of magnetic cards. The ones that are shown are cards that are mainly made by Anritsu. They are mainly silver in colour on the back. Can also be know as an Orange Card, these are not used for phones but for purchasing other things like train tickets & vending machines. Japan is the main user of these type cards, Australia also used these cards until the introduction of Chip/Smart Cards.

Australian Daffy Duck Phonecard
British Telecom Chip Phonecard

CHIP - SMART PHONECARDS - These type cards are now more used by Telecoms around the world. The convenience of these cards are that they can be re-used by recharging the IC chip that is contained in the card. In some countries they now also can be used to purchase items at vending machines.

British Telecom Optical Phonecard
Optical Phonecard from Portugal

OPTICAL PHONECARDS - Not used as much these days, but have been used by many contries. They work by reflecting a laser beam off diffraction patterns embossed into an aluminium strip on the card. British Telecom used this type for a number of years but have now changed over to the Chip technology.

Australian Remote Phonecard
Californian Remote Phonecard

REMOTE ACCESS/MEMORY PHONECARDS - These Phonecards are different that they are not able to be inserted into a public phone. To use these you need to call a certain number & use the pin number that is located on the card. These cards can either be made of cardboard or plastic. Many companies all over the world produce these cards including main Telecom companies.

Australian Mobile Recharge Card
Southpark Mobile Recharge Card

MOBILE RECHARGE CARDS - These cards are used to recharge your credit on prepaid mobile phones. Not collected much by collectors but are becoming more popular due to thematics interests. .

Australian Telecom GSM Card
Australian Vodaphone GSM Card

GSM CARDS - These cards are used to to activate mobile phones usually by inserting the chip section into the phone, earlier cards do not have the removable chip. These cards are not really sort after by collectors as they are very hard to come by.