Calcagno Maps

IYKYK! 😏😊🗺️

Inspired by the 1938 Henry Beck Central London Underground map and applied design to the full light rail system.








#1938

WHOA! What are the odds?! I was mowing my front yard this morning when I spotted a tiny piece of rusty metal. I always clear out anything that could turn into a window-smashing projectile, so I dug it out… and couldn’t believe what I found.

A New York City Transit Authority token - the classic “Bullseye” design first used in 1986 until it was replaced by the “Five Boroughs” pentagram token in late 1995 — buried right here in my California front yard, almost 3,000 miles from NYC!

At first it was too rusted to tell, but that iconic bullseye pattern immediately caught my eye. After cleaning it up a bit, I could barely make out the faint “New York City Transit Authority” text - and that’s when it hit me what I’d just dug up.

Disclaimer: I do have a small collection of NYC tokens, all safely stored in a zip-lock bag and accounted for in a box. None have ever been taken out - not even before I bought this house. So this mystery token? Definitely not one of mine!

How it ended up on the property of a transit-loving map designer and upcoming book author remains one of life’s little mysteries!