Token is like a bearer share which can be transfered digitally from person to person. Bearer shares are not that common nowadays but I understand that in the past they were quite popular.
I assume that bearer shares fell out of favor for a number of the same reasons as bearer bonds. On the one hand, the average person doesn't really want to hold a lot of money in paper assets that they're responsible for the physical security of. On the other hand, governments don't like untraceable paper assets that can be used to transfer a lot of value because of money laundering etc.