END OF AN ERA: The Met Will No Longer Give Out Metal Tokens For Admission
The tokens, with an "M" inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, had become a symbol of the famous museum.
The tiny metal pins used as admission tickets at The Metropolitan Museum of Art are officially no more.
According to The New York Times, the small, colorful tin tokens have become too expensive, and the world-famous museum will switch to a new paper ticket system that uses detachable stickers.
“We realize, without sounding crass, that it’s a beloved brand and a beloved symbol,” Harold Holzer, the Met’s senior vice president for public affairs, told the Times. “One of my assistants has a whole rainbow of the colored buttons on her desk.”
According to the Times, the museum ordered 1.6 million buttons four times a year at a cost of three cents per button. The new paper sticker-tickets will cost only a penny.
It makes fiscal sense, but people are still taking to Twitter to express their disappointment.
the Met is getting rid of their metal admission pins and i'm actually distraught because i can't find any of mine :(
— Jackie Close (@jackieaclose) June 28, 2013
I still have Met pins from when I was little and my parents took me for the first time.
— Brennan Monaco (@Brennan) June 28, 2013
Sad but those Met pins seemed to fall off more than should have .... http://t.co/gNQyWlP4rZ
— Scott Talan (@talan) June 28, 2013
The 42-year-old token system had come to symbolize not only your entry into the Met, but an iconic souvenir that has even been used in works of art like Ji Eon Kang's "Dress."
For anyone who wants to stock up on the tiny buttons while they still can, head to the Met this weekend — the New York museum won't officially stop selling the tokens until this coming July 1, when it switches to its new seven-day-a-week schedule.
And for those who have all 16 colors of the pins (they changed daily in random order), keep them as collectors items — they'll be worth something someday.
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