We can assume that government money is the norm and that tokens are an interesting exception. However, there hasn't been a time when there weren't a variety of moneys carrying the needs of daily commerce by providing a medium for indirect trade. Both stores have been in business for years and are open today. In the 1990s, the new merchant's store token is the payphone card. Basically, you buy payphone service in advance in the form of a debit card.
Some cards are totally electronic, with a magnetic stripe like a charge card.
Most phonecards are electro-mechanical, being punched by machinery in the payphone. American cards will most likely be of the first variety, all electronic. Phone cards carry colorful pictures of tourist attractions, local festivals, monuments or sports. They also carry advertising for other companies. Debit cards drive the copiers at Kinko's, a national chain of printshops common to college towns and business parks.