A sophisticated counterfeit TTC token obtained by CBC News underscores the challenges faced by the Toronto transit agency as it tries to deal with a problem that is costing it hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

The token, at first glance, looks virtually identical to a regular Toronto Transit Commission token. The two even weigh the same. But a closer examination carried out by the University of Toronto’s Department of Materials Science & Engineering yesterday revealed a number of differences.

A look through an electron microscope revealed that the top of the second “t” in Toronto appeared to be cut off; the ridges found on the outside edges of the fake token aren’t as clearly defined as those on real ones; and the spacing of the letters is not consistent.

Professor Zhirui Wang (MSE), who oversaw the analysis, said the inaccuracies in the lettering and the scratches were probably due to an inferior die used by the counterfeiter.

Professor Wang’s team was also able to determine the composition of the fake token and found that nickel, which is used in the real token to ensure durability, was virtually absent in the fake. Nickel is generally more expensive than metals like zinc or copper, found in abundance in the fake version.

Still, he estimates it may have cost up to $100,000 to produce these tokens, so counterfeiters would have to sell a lot to make a profit.

Follow the links to read the full cbc.ca article, including MSE’s analysis of the tokens, on the CBC News website, on  Digital Journal, or to listen to the CBC Radio news report.