Waterstones accepts National Book Tokens stored in drawer for 50 years

A Waterstones bookseller has lauded National Book Tokens (NBTs) after a customer was able to buy books using three "vintage" tokens issued 50 years ago. 

Brian Cohen, an expert bookseller at Waterstones in the Trafford Centre in Manchester, was given the NBTs as payment—believed to date from the 1970s—by a customer who had found them in a drawer belonging to her elderly father. The vouchers were used to buy The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (Ebury) by Charlie Mackesie.

Cohen told The Bookseller: “I’ve been a Waterstones Bookseller for 22 years, and this is only the second time I’ve seen Book Tokens of this vintage—the last time was in 2014 for £5.”

On the first occasion, Cohen explained he had contacted NBT, which confirmed the design was from the 1970s, so when the latest batch were brought in, he recognised the design, a fact which NBT also confirmed to The Bookseller.

He added: “I was born in 1976, so there’s a good chance these tokens are older than I am. The vouchers would certainly have bought a lot more books for the money back when they were first given.”

He explained that the customer had even phoned ahead to check if the vouchers—worth £5.50—were still valid. Although NBTs ‘never expire’, Cohen explained the use of these would result in a "slight till discrepancy" when it came time to cash up, as "till software refused to believe there was such a thing as a paper 50p Book Token". He added: “Part of the transaction had to be put through as cash.”

Cohen posted the picture of the vouchers on X (formerly Twitter), and received an overwhelming response from book lovers, and the publishing industry, with many hoping they could be put on display or perhaps sent to a museum. However, Cohen explained they would be "bundled up and mailed off to the Cashiers Department with the rest of the paper vouchers at month-end".

He said: “It was lovely to feel a sense of connection to a prior era of bookselling.”

According to Cohen, although an individual modern Electronic Book Token card will expire after eight years, "a knowledgeable bookseller can still ring the NBT helpline and have the expired balance transferred onto a new card". He added: “So even in the digital age there’s still no such thing as a truly expired Book Token."

Lisa Bywater, head of marketing at National Book Tokens, said: “We love to see NBTs still bringing joy to book-lovers when they’re discovered so many years later–with our 92nd birthday falling this week, we have a lot of history. Since the days of those ’lick and stick’ vouchers, the ones in the picture look like those issued in the 1970s: National Book Tokens have been through many changes.

"From currency-style vouchers in the 1990s to the launch of gift cards in 2010, personalised gift cards in 2016 and e-gift cards in 2017, to our most recent development–the ability to add our gift cards to a digital wallet–we’re always working hard to make sure there’s a book token to suit every reader. But for those book lovers who do stumble upon one of our older iterations: rest assured, you’ll always be able to spend them!”