I rather believe that the purpose of this PNE token, which was issued for the 1964 fair (in Vancouver B.C.), was to let exhibitors and club display members in, so that they did not have to pay admission. When the coin clubs had displays at the PNE in the clubs section of the fair (in the BC Pavilion) we were given admission tickets so that club members could get in. These we used. They bore printing indicating the nature of their use.
As for free passes, well it used to be (and may still well be) that every elementary school student received one with their final yearly report card.
The first question I had on looking at this token today is what was the price of an adult admission? The BC token books do not give this information. In general when I do find a token in use I try to get and record what it cost to buy but a) this was not always done (and in some cases it could not be done) and b) the price of the token could vary when it was being used – a drink token could be good for a beer at one function or a some other more costly drink at another and c) the prices for a beer or whatever was indicated on a token might have been increased or, on the odd occasion, reduced.
Searches on Google do not yield this information.
The 1964 token was in use when the Beatles performed at the fair in the Empire Stadium and some may have been used by a few attendees to that event. Tickets to that event ranged in price ($3.25, $5.25) and so the admission price for an adult to the fair may have been about 2 dollars or even less. Circa 1969 I can remember my father complaining about already having spent $20.00 there for our family of four.
~ Duff Malkin
