An NYC locksmith has become a viral sensation for turning subway tokens into keys

A local locksmith has a viral new offering: turning New York City subway tokens into brass mementos.

Since December 2023, Philip Mortillaro of Greenwich Locksmiths has been decapitating keys and welding the discontinued coins in their place. The resulting functional-Frankenstein-trinkets have been a hit with nostalgic New Yorkers.

“All year long people want these,” said Mortillaro, 74, who estimates he’s sold about 500 of the coin-keys to date.

The creations only take about 30 minutes to make in his shop and workspace at the key-covered facade at 56 Seventh Ave. South. (The 125 square foot store is also Manhattan’s smallest free standing building, which he bought for $20,000 in 1980.) But sourcing the tokens takes much longer.

“I buy them from anywhere I can get them,” Mortillaro explained as he rifled through a box of tokens. Coin dealers, collectors and eBay offer the best chances for find vintage subway tokens for sale, with Mortillaro saying he recently purchased about 100 from a coin dealer for “a small fortune.”

The tokens can cost him anywhere from $10 to $20 a piece, and he sells the final product for $95.

Many learn about the keys on social media, where they’re a viral sensation, thanks largely to an early endorsement from influencer New York Nico.

Some buyers are too young to even remember when the tokens were in use; for others, they’re so familiar they almost feel like a family heirloom: Mortillaro said many token key buyers have been transit workers.

“A lot of MTA people have bought them to give to their grandfathers and their fathers who worked on the MTA,” said Mortillaro.

He’s also on occasion been commissioned to make the keys for other subway systems: When lifelong San Francisco Municipal Railway rider Richard Bullock learned about the token keys, he fell in love with the concept and shipped Mortillaro an old Muni token.

Although the resulting key works, it's so precious to Bullock that he doesn't use it.

“I keep it at home where it’s safe, unless I’m going somewhere where I want to show it off,” he said. “I absolutely love it and everyone I show it to loves it too, especially us SF natives who grew up on Muni.”

Having a tangible object that evokes a bygone age is increasingly important to many people living in a digital era where, as Mortillaro puts it, we are increasingly “losing our humanness.”

Elsewhere online, makers have transformed tokens into cufflinks, earrings, bracelets and more.

“It’s a relic of a time. And it’s very tangible,” said Mortillaro’s son, who is also a locksmith named Philip Mortillaro, of the small but mighty NYC subway token. “It's indisputable. It can't be anything else other than what it is.”