Someone across the street could have been messing with you.
This sounds like it was from a time where you could ask to borrow a bars phone to make a free local call and it could be worth someone's while crossing the street to collect a quarter.
You can't leave us in suspense, we need to know whether you coughed up the dough or not.
In my mind I thought that pay phones were fully automated, especially the count the money part.