pay phone story

Payphone Story – Global History of Payphones and Phone Booths

New Zealand Payphone- Coin Collecting Telephone (C.C.T.)

Manufactured by Associated Automation Ltd., this New Zealand payphone was widely used in public telephone booths during the 1970s and 1980s. Based on the proven AB Multicoin mechanism, it retained the distinctive A and B buttons for coin collection and refund. It formed part of an international family that included Britain’s 700 Series, Australia’s CT1…

Name	G0015 Coin Collecting Telephone (C.C.T.)
Date	1970
Manufacturer	Associated Automation (for N.Z. POST OFFICE)
Links	1971 NZ PO Maintenance Manual (pdf file) G0015 maintenance instruction Easiphone manual (very similar payphone also made by Elliot / Associated Automation

NZ Associated Automation payphone– the Coin Collecting Telephone (C.C.T.)

The new Coin Collecting Telephone (C.C.T.), a compact self-contained payphone based on the earlier G110 coin box but incorporating the same proven multi-coin mechanism.

Introduced in the late 1960s and widely installed throughout New Zealand during the 1970s and 1980s, the Associated Automation payphone became one of the country’s most recognisable public telephones. Manufactured by Associated Automation Ltd. under contract to the New Zealand Post Office, it was designed around the proven AB Multicoin coin control mechanism. The familiar ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons were inherited directly from the AB system, with the ‘A’ button collecting the deposited coins when a call was connected and the ‘B’ button returning them if the call was unsuccessful.

Although uniquely New Zealand in appearance, the telephone belonged to an international family of payphones based on the British AB mechanism. Similar concepts were adopted in Britain’s 700 Series payphones, Australia’s CT1, and the Easiphone, all of which used variations of the reliable AB Multicoin system.

The Associated Automation payphone featured a robust cast mild steel cabinet with a separate locked cash compartment, making it well suited to unattended public locations. Rotary-dial examples originally accepted pre-decimal and then 10, 20 and 50 cent coins, while later units were adapted as tariffs changed. Although eventually replaced by electronic payphones, the Associated Automation model served New Zealand for over two decades and remains an important milestone in the evolution of the country’s public telephone network.

The New Zealand Post Office Coin Collecting Telephone (C.C.T.), introduced in the mid-1960s, was a self-contained public payphone designed to simplify installation and maintenance while improving reliability. Developed from the earlier G110 Coin Collecting Box, it combined the telephone circuit, multi-coin mechanism and secure cash container within a single steel cabinet. The telephone accepted 2, 5 and 10 cent coins using an electromechanical coin validator based on the proven AB Multicoin principle. On pre-payment models, the required coins were inserted before dialling and held in a temporary escrow mechanism. When the called party answered, pressing the A button released the coins into the locked cash box. If the call could not be completed, pressing the B button returned the coins through the refund chute. Later post-payment versions allowed the call to be made before payment, with the mechanism collecting coins only when instructed by the exchange. Inside, a precisely engineered escapement, balance arm, pendulum and spring assemblies controlled coin timing and routing, while relays prevented unauthorised dialling until the correct payment had been made.