World Phonecard Catalogue United Kingdom 1

Collecting British Telecom (BT) Landis & Gyr (L&G) optical telephone cards?

The World Phonecard Catalogue UK 1 is essential to own and use when buying, swapping or selling old BT Phonecards.

The 240 page full colour catalogue covers all of BT/L&G issues from 1981 right through to the last of the optical cards printed in 1997.

Key Features

‣Colour photos of BT/L&G phonecard (face only)
‣Includes catalogue reference numbers
‣Includes quantities produced for each card
‣Includes mint values - as they were in 2001
‣Some cards also feature additional notes e.g. BTI057 - this card was never issued, and all but a few copies were destroyed.
‣Control numbers (first 4 digits) are often provided e.g. 345D

ISBN: 0-9524328-1-1

If you are a collector of BT/L&G optical cards this catalogue really is a must have, the information within is invaluable for any collector from beginner to experienced.

Collecting BT chip cards? You need to buy World Phonecard Catalogue UK 2

World Phonecard Catalogue United Kingdom 1 - £14.99 + delivery

UK 1 Catalogue Explained

Each Phonecard in the catalogue is given both a unique catalogue reference number e.g. BTM001 and category within the catalogue. Both are determined by the theme or category that the cards features or was commissioned for or by.

For example a BT telephone card commissioned by a pharmaceutical company would appear in the medical section with a reference number starting BTM. Cards are then listed in the date that they were issued. The first card from the medical category is BTM001, then BTM002, BTM003 and so on. View a selection of the BT medical Phonecards.

Some collectors choose to collect cards based solely on the category that they were issued under. A popular choice of which is the advertising catergory BTA cards. Often sellers on eBay and other auction websites will include these reference numbers. Having the UK 1 catalogue makes it easy to find BT L&G optical cards, especially when some categories have 400+ cards in the instance of BTP promotional catergory.

Catalogue Listings

Along with the cards catalogue reference number e.g. BTC097 and a colour photograph of the front (face) of each phone card is the following information:

‣Number of units e.g. 40u
‣Card description e.g. R.N.I.B. Eyes (1) - Anneka Rice
‣The beginning of the cards control number (a unique number assigned to each card by the manufacturer on the reverse) e.g. 329C
‣Quantity produced e.g. 1,100,473
‣Mint and sometimes a used valuation for the card*

Pictured below: the top part of a page from the BTC Commemorative card category within the World Phonecard Catalogue UK 1, complete with colour photo and the cards details, as listed in bullet points above.

*Please note: the UK 1 catalogue was printed in 2001, card valuations are based on the collectors market at that time. Prices do not necessarily reflect today's market, however they are still a good guide to the rarity or scarcity of a card... unless a large batch of cards has subsequently been found.

Categories of BT Cards

As previously mentioned, each optical BT card appearing in the UK 1 World Phonecard Catalogue is listed within a different category, the categories are as follows:

‣BTA - BT Advertising cards
‣BTC - BT Commemorative cards
‣BTD - BT Definitive and Complimentary cards
‣BTE - BT Engineering Trial cards
‣BTG - BT General Promotional cards
‣BTL - BT Staff Leaving cards
‣BTI - BT Internal/Special Event cards
‣BTM - BT Medical cards
‣BTO - BT Overseas Commissioned cards
‣BTP - BT Company Promotional cards
‣BTV - BT Business Visiting cards
‣BTS - BT Engineers' Service cards
‣BTT - BT Engineers' Test cards
‣BTX - BT Miscellaneous cards
‣CUP - BT H.M. Prison cards
‣CUX - BT Inmarsat cards

The majority of the different categories above are explained within the UK 1 catalogue on page 4 and 5, although most are self explanatory.

Additional Landis & Gyr Card Catergories

As well as the BT cards categorised above, there are also listings for other British Telecom Landis & Gyr cards such as the BT Gains International Visiting and Landis & Gyr employee cards, the additional categories are as follows:

‣GIV - BT Gains International Visiting cards
‣BGV - BT General Visiting cards
‣LGV - L&G Visiting cards
‣BSK - BSK test/cardphone adjustment cards
‣IOM - Isle of Mann cards
‣CUR - Oil and Gas Rig cards
‣CUT - Oil and Gas Rig Service cards

BT Trial, Proof and Unofficial Overprinted Cards

Finally the UK 1 Phonecard catalogue also includes six pages devoted to BT trial and proof cards, of which many are rarely ever seen.

Cards pictured include a 10 card 'Our World' set of famous landmarks from around the world. The idea was suggested by Landis & Gyr to British Telecom as an alternative to the generic "greenies" for high volume public issue cards. BT at the time rejected the idea.

Other cards shown are three design proofs for the Landis & Gyr 50 Millionth card, of which none were used.

Some BT Phonecards are either not listed in the UK 1 catalogue or appear under the heading of 'BT Miscellaneous Cards'. This is due to the fact that these cards were unofficial overprinted cards e.g. BTX001 Sainsbury's overprint and not were printed or authorised by Landis & Gyr or British Telecom. View unofficial overprinted BT phone cards that don't appear in the UK 1 catalogue.

Please note: When the UK 1 catalogue was produced it wasn't policy to catalogue privately overprinted cards.

Should you have questions regarding this catalogue please email or contact me for more information.

Buying online

When buying online you can pay via your PayPal account or credit/debit card. Simply click the add to cart beneath the item(s) you'd like to buy. If you'd like to add more items simply click the continue shopping button/option on the PayPal basket page. Quantities can also be changed on the PayPal basket page as well.

Buying offline

To purchase offline, I accept cheques and BACS payment. If you'd like to pay via either of these methods please contact me with details and quantities of what you'd like to purchase.

Postage and Packaging

Postage and packing is extra and dependent upon the amount that you order and is automatically calculated by the PayPal shopping cart software.

United Kingdom (UK) posting and packing charges are as follows:

Order value less than £24.99 - £3.99
Order value less than £74.99 - £5.99
Order value £75.00 or higher - £9.99

All items are sent via a 'signed for' courier or Royal Mail service.

Please note: Postage rates have been set for UK postal addresses. If you're are buying from outside of the UK and wish delivery to take place to another country other than the United Kingdom, please contact me first before placing your order.

In future I may well add addition lines, if you are a supplier of such items or know of any goods lines that are as invaluable to telephone card collectors as these, please do get in touch.

Should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me and I'd like to finally say happy collecting.

Last updated: 8th January 2024