Aruba, 1988

The island of Aruba is a Dutch dependency in Central America, located in the Caribbean Sea twenty-four kilometers from the coast of Venezuela. The first public cardphones installed on the island were supplied by Landis & Gyr and used optoelectronic technology. The first cards issued were two ordinary, blue with silver lettering, 60 units (code 809A) and 240 units (code 809B). As we know, the code identifies the year and the month of issue, in this case 1988 (8) and September (09); and this allows us to identify the numerous reprints that succeeded each other until 1991. In 1989 new values were issued that completed the series: 10, 20 and 120 units. The last blue cards were marketed in 1992, followed by some illustrated cards, first printed in single color, and then in four colors, until 1996, when a new telephone system was installed that used chip technology.