> "metal holder of the receiver" -> hook switch? You press it down to end the call, usually by "hanging up" the receiver. YES > "the typical sound of a line

> "metal holder of the receiver" -> hook switch? You press it down to end the call, usually by "hanging up" the receiver. YES > "the typical sound of a line ready" -> dial tone? YES It was exactly what "docbert" explained above (happening in Australia) > , you'd need to insert coins before the dial tone; maybe that was common where you lived too? YES: without coins we had, if I recall correctly, a long non-stop constant tone, while with the coin it changed into the "you can call now" tone: "to, toooo" > Dialing 111 wouldn't ever connect anywhere in Italy (I think?), you a right > There's a lot of tricky timing with detecting hang ups, and exploiting differences in timing gets you into being a phreaker. ah, I got it > As for who paid, if these were private payphones, probably the owner of the phones. Otherwise, the phone company. yes, all calls from a public phone, but call abroad, so I guess the company "SIP" had to pay for it: not good, I know :( thank you Toast0!