what is a token?

     A token is an item that stands for something else. The most common tokens we might encounter are coins minted for use in an arcade, a laundromat, or a public bus. People buy the tokens, and use them instead of cash, or because machines won't take anything but tokens. Technically this is called a "limited means of exchange"--it can only be used in the machines for which it was manufactured.
      The word token also is sometimes used to mean a symbol--something that stands for an idea--as a ring might be a token of an engagement. In this way token sometimes refers to a souvenir or memento.
     A "token sum" means an amount of money so insignificant that it is taken as a mere symbol that a professional or business transaction has occurred with the payment of it--a dollar, for example.
     In the 1970's, employers were accused of hiring  "token" minorities. If they hired one black, for example, they thought that no one could accuse them of unfair hiring practices. The one black employee might be referred to as a "token" minority, or a "token" black--meant only as a symbol that the hiring practices were fair. Further investigation sometimes proved that this was not the case--that the hiring practices were unfair to minorities.