A Waterstones salesman has delighted book lovers with a heartwarming tale of discovery, nostalgia and connection.

Brian Cohen, bookseller at Waterstones at the Trafford Center in Manchester, has told how a customer was able to make a new purchase using National Book Tokens issued 50 years ago – and it tickled people online.

Speaking to

Posting a photo of the three paper book tokens, Brian added: “I’m pretty sure these designs were published in the 1970s, but @book_tokens never expire!”

This charming post, which has been viewed almost 98,000 times, clearly struck a chord with X users, with a number of people remembering old NBTs in their responses.

Brian said The bookseller that the customer had used the tokens, worth a total of £5.50, to buy the children’s book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesie.

He added: “I’ve been a Waterstones bookseller for 22 years, and this is only the second time I’ve seen book tokens of this vintage – the last time was in 2014 for £5.

The first time, Brian contacted NBT, who assured him that the design of the tokens dated from the 1970s.

A Waterstones shopper found these National Book Tokens dating from the 1970s during her 92-year-old father’s raffle.

Bookseller Brian Cohen put the book tokens, issued 50 years ago, online and received an overwhelming response.

As such, he had no difficulty dating the later tokens to the same period.

He added: “I was born in 1976, so there’s a good chance these tokens are older than me. The vouchers certainly would have allowed many more books to be purchased with the money refunded when they were first donated.

The veteran bookseller – he has worked at Waterstones for 22 years – loved feeling connected to “an earlier era of bookselling”, he told the publication.

Even though the NBTs don’t expire, the customer clearly doubted they would be accepted after so long, even calling ahead to verify that they could be exchanged for a book.

The only problem, Brian told the publication, was with the till software, which did not recognize the 50p paper token.

This problem was quickly resolved, however, by replacing part of the transaction with cash.

Many of those who saw Brian’s post on X were touched by the story, and a number of people took the opportunity to reminisce about receiving NBTs.

One person wrote: “I think I would have kept them, they are beautiful.”

A number of X users remember receiving tokens from similar books when they were younger, while others wondered what those tokens might have bought in the 1970s.

Another added: “I really loved getting a book token for Christmas.”

A third X user revealed: “We bought an old school building (empty for 7 years) and found a whole pile of old book tokens. We put them to good use when we discovered they were still valid! »

Moved by the story, someone else posted: “What a great piece of social history. I love that she can still use them!’.

A fifth person joked: ‘Roald Dahl sent me a token book every birthday until I was 12. I recognize the typography on the one on the right from the 70s.’

Other X users wondered what the tokens would have bought when they were issued.

Waterstones delighted a customer by allowing her to use the tokens to purchase the children’s book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesie.

A sixth person commented: “Just think how many pounds £2.50 would have gotten you back then! Too bad he didn’t spend them…’

A seventh expressed a similar view, writing: “I’d like to know what £5.50 would buy in the year it was issued…”

However, one user of eight was less interested in the purchasing power of the tokens than in their potential value as an antique.

Their sobering response was: “I should have sold them on eBay…”