Montpelier, Vermont Parking Token

In 1983, my family visited Burlington, Vermont for a week. I picked up this little local piece from a coin dealer's scratchtray there.

Most modern tokens are ugly, utilitarian things, a far cry from the "golden age" of the late 1700s to mid-1800s. So this little piece appealed to me, even way back when I was a YN:



What I'm asking is: does anyone know the approximate period of usage of these tokens, what face value they were sold for, and how they were used? I'm guessing in parking meters, but I don't know for sure - it sure looks too pretty to jam into a meter.

I'm also assuming, given their prettiness, that these tokens had some aspect of a tourist souvenir. From what I understand, Montpelier isn't a very large town and should never really have had much of a parking problem.