~*~*~ Lord Marcovan's Love Tokens ~*~*~
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,673 ✭✭✭✭✭
February 2013 update: I just sold and retired this collection, and did very well when the coins were auctioned. It was definitely worth the time and money invested, and I had a blast with it.
You can disregard the "Wanted" tags now- I just do that with my collection threads so they can double as a wantlist when they're active.
Who knows ... I might have another go at a love token type set one day. Sometimes it is good to walk the road less traveled.
I've been a "holey" coin collector since the millennium. In the course of buying holed coins for my famous “Holey Coin Vest”, I came across some interesting love tokens. Love tokens are coins with hand-engraved artwork on them. Many of these coins were christening gifts for newborn babies, or gifts from one sweetheart to another, which is no doubt where the "love token" term originated. Women kept them on charm bracelets and men kept them on their watch chains. The practice began many centuries ago, and continued into the 20th century, but love tokens' heyday seems to have come during the high point of the Victorian era.
Some of the engraving on these is stellar, and many of these little hand-engraved curiosities are real works of art. Back in the late 1800s, there were probably a lot more skilled engravers to do the work, but in today's world, it's mostly a lost art. Prehaps the last gasp of the phenomenon was the "hobo nickels" of the Depression era. Of course, there are a tiny handful of modern artists who carry on the tradition of hand-engraving coins.
I had long been toying with the idea of attempting a date set of Seated Liberty dimes with love token reverses, and in January of 2008 I decided to take my few accumulated pieces and start such a set. The Seated Liberty dime, particularly its Legend Obverse subtype of 1860-1891, seems to be the most common host coin for love token engraving, with the gold dollar close behind.
The wonderful thing about these is that one can collect them as coins AND as one-of-a-kind miniature masterpieces of a lost art. That makes them a great "two in one" collectible. And they pack a lot of bang for the budget, too, considering how relatively inexpensive most are.
Another advantage to collecting Seated dimes this way is that since I am collecting coins that have had their mintmarks removed, I need not concern myself with finding rarer branch mint coins like some of the Carson City issues. Some of the years when dimes were produced in small quantities at Philadelphia only (especially 1844, 1846, 1879, 1880, and 1881) will prove challenging, however.
NOTE: though you see "Wanted" tags below, please do not post offers directly on this forum or you'll get me accused of spam. By all means, do PM me if you have some to offer, but this thread is for discussion purposes only. I only added the "Wanted" tags so it could also double as a wantlist when I link into it from BST or elsewhere.
Photobucket slideshow
The numbers in parentheses at the end of each line are the combined production of ALL mints during that particular year, excluding proofs.
On coins with monograms where the order of the initials is uncertain, I'll just list them in alphabetical order.
1837
"C", "L", & "M" in monogram.
Gift from "savoyspecial" (CU). (682,500).
1838
"Toler" in script with ornamental border.
Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (2,398,534).
1839
"WBM" in script initials.
Ex-"shelbind" (eBay). (2,376,115).
1840
Monogram with three letters. One is obviously a "K". The others could be "A" and "R" but it's hard to say.
Late 2011 acquisition, provenance forgotten. (2,534,000).
1841
"JNM"(?) in script.
Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (3,630,000).
1842
Old English "A" within wreath. Part of a matched pair with the 1855 coin, below.
Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (3,907,500).
1843
"H" and "M" in monogram, with ornamental flourishes.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (1,520,000).
1844
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. (72,500).
1845
"X" in ornamental border.
Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (1,985,000).
1846
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. (31,300).
1847
Semi-key date. Scarce. (245,000).
1848
"CFW" in script.
Semi-key date. Scarce. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (451,500).
1849
Fancy "R" initial in border.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (1,139,000).
1850
Old English "P" in concentric circles.
From a bulk lot purchased on eBay. (2,441,500).
1851
Old English "L" within ornamental border with sunbursts.
Part of a matched pair of clothing studs with an 1853 identical twin which is not displayed as part of this set.
Ex-eBay. (1,426,500).
1852
"Claribel" in script below lighthouse. Probably from a bracelet.
Ex-eBay. (1,935,000).
1853
"Minnie" around top hat, with "89" and flourishes below (presumably the latter is the engraving date?)
Ex-eBay. (13,273,010).
1854
Old English "D" in fancy star. Probably once mounted on a button or cufflink.
Ex-"pinetreecoinandjewelry" (eBay). (6,240,000).
1855
Old English "A" within wreath. Part of a matched pair with the 1842 coin, above.
Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (2,075,000)
1856
"H" and "W" in monogram with ornamental border.
Ex-"mrcrest" (eBay). (7,030,000).
1857
Floral design in geometric border. Probably once mounted on a hatpin or similar piece of jewelry.
Ex-"yoyolz" (eBay). (7,120,000).
1858
"QP" (or maybe "PP"?) in script with wreath, flourishes, and ornamental border. Original suspension ring.
Ex-eBay. (1,890,000).
1859
"C", "E", and "P" in monogram, with ornamental border.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (970,000).
1860
(786,000).
1861
"RWS" with marsh scene and stork. These stork pictorials might have once been christening gifts. Not only do I live in the coastal marshlands, but a stork flew right in front of me on the day I bought this. More amazingly, it has all three of my initials in sequence! (Comments thread) Ex-eBay. (2,055,500).
1862
"DE" (or maybe "DC"?) in Old English letters. Old center mount- may have been a button or cufflink.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (1,027,750).
1863
"J", "K", and "S" (or maybe I,K,S?) in monogram. Old center mount- probably was a button or cufflink.
Semi-key date. Scarce. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (171,500).
1864
Semi-key date. Scarce. (241,000).
1865
Semi-key date. Scarce. (185,000).
1866
Semi-key date. Scarce. (143,000).
1867
Semi-key date. Scarce. (146,000).
1868
"C", "E", and "F" in monogram.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (724,000).
1869
(706,000).
1870
"B", "B", and "W" in monogram.
Ex-Sunday & Sunday Antiques (goantiques.com). (520,500).
1871
"Dio" in Old English letters, with flourishes & border.
Ex-"lkrarecoins" (CU). (1,246,850).
1872
"JWD" with geometric design and stork in well-executed marsh scene with flying birds in sky.
Ex-eBay. (2,620,980).
1873
Single masted schooner sailing left in seascape with waves and birds.
Ex-"legacycoins_collectibles" (eBay). (4,431,891).
1874
"J", "O", and "W" in monogram with fancy border and rays. Ex-eBay. (3,190,117).
1875
"Will" and two-masted schooner sailing right over textured waves. Ex-"exo" (eBay). (24,065,000).
1876
"Papa" in fancy script below landscape with church scene.
Ex-eBay. (30,150,000).
1877
"ELB" in inverted horseshoe, with flourishes and border.
Ex-"coinsjewelry" (eBay). (17,350,000)
1878
"D", "H", and "M" in monogram.
Ex-"eirikrtripartite" (eBay). (1,877,200).
1879
"A" and "J" in monogram with ornamental border.
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. High grade host coin. Ex-"seanq" (CU). (14,000).
1880
"C", "I" (or "J"), & "L" in monogram with ornamental border.
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. I found this piece in a bulk lot for only $7.50! Not long before that, I had bought a different one for about $125.00. I resold the $125.00 example at cost, and kept the lucky cherrypick. Both were remarkably similar in grade. Both ex-eBay. (36,000).
1881
"A", "H", and "W" in monogram, with flourishes.
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. Ex-"Minerscoin" (CU). (24,000).
1882
"E" and "L" through "C" in small monogram, below horse's head.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (3,910,000).
1883
"PETE" on fence, with chick hatching from egg below.
Ex-eBay. (7,674,673).
1884
"J.J.T." above river scene with boats and the Brooklyn Bridge. A nice companion to the 1887 "Statue of Liberty" piece below. Both this and the coin below date within a year of the dedication of the landmarks they portray. Ex-eBay, 2011. (3,930,474).
1885
"WJH" in banner across inverted horseshoe.
Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (2,576,187).
1886
"P. L." below lighthouse and seascape, with partial ornamental border and scroll above.
Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay). (6,583,208).
1887
"MA-MA" with Statue of Liberty scene and rope border. Like the "Brooklyn Bridge" piece above, the host coin dates to within a year of the opening of the landmark. Ex-Heritage Long Beach Tokens & Medals Auction #110, Lot 29116, 09/2008. (15,737,679)
1888
"Ivy De" or "Joy De"(?) in script, with parachute (!) and ornamental border.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (7,215,655).
1889
"FHI" or "FHJ" in script with flourishes and fancy borders. Very intricate.
Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay), 04/2008. (8,352,678)
1890
"SPL" (or SPI?) monogram on high grade host coin.
Ex-"oscarsaab" (eBay). (11,334,027).
1891
"CEB" script initials, with flourishes above and below.
Ex-"mrcrest" (eBay). (23,046,116).
September, 2011: The Barbers are coming! The Barbers are coming!
By the turn of the century there were more branch mints producing dimes, but fewer got made into love tokens. By this period the fashion was probably starting to taper off a bit from its late-Victorian era peak. It did continue well into the early 20th century, however. When Seated dime love tokens were my exclusive focus, I (reluctantly) passed up some lovely pictorials (like seascapes) because they were on Barber dimes. Not any more! On we go, up to 1916...
1892
"DF" in fancy script.
Ex-eBay. (16,952,410).
1893
(7,591,341).
1894
"E", "F", and "M" in geometric style monogram with ornamental border.
Ex-eBay. (2,050,000).
1895
(2,250,000).
1896
(3,185,056).
1897
(12,877,377).
1898
(20,152,507).
1899
"A", "C", and "P" in monogram with ornamental border.
Ex-eBay. (24,097,493).
1900
(24,778,270).
1901
(25,072,678).
1902
(27,950,000).
1903
(28,293,300).
1904
(15,400,357).
1905
(24,806,822).
1906
(29,764,371).
1907
(34,536,470).
1908
(23,099,000).
1909
(14,481,000).
1910
(5,882,000).
1911
(33,599,000).
1912
(34,529,300).
1913
(20,270,000).
1914
(31,368,230).
1915
(6,580,000).
1916
(24,310,000).
Master index of my collections, treasure hunting tales, and other stuff.
You can disregard the "Wanted" tags now- I just do that with my collection threads so they can double as a wantlist when they're active.
Who knows ... I might have another go at a love token type set one day. Sometimes it is good to walk the road less traveled.
I've been a "holey" coin collector since the millennium. In the course of buying holed coins for my famous “Holey Coin Vest”, I came across some interesting love tokens. Love tokens are coins with hand-engraved artwork on them. Many of these coins were christening gifts for newborn babies, or gifts from one sweetheart to another, which is no doubt where the "love token" term originated. Women kept them on charm bracelets and men kept them on their watch chains. The practice began many centuries ago, and continued into the 20th century, but love tokens' heyday seems to have come during the high point of the Victorian era.
Some of the engraving on these is stellar, and many of these little hand-engraved curiosities are real works of art. Back in the late 1800s, there were probably a lot more skilled engravers to do the work, but in today's world, it's mostly a lost art. Prehaps the last gasp of the phenomenon was the "hobo nickels" of the Depression era. Of course, there are a tiny handful of modern artists who carry on the tradition of hand-engraving coins.
I had long been toying with the idea of attempting a date set of Seated Liberty dimes with love token reverses, and in January of 2008 I decided to take my few accumulated pieces and start such a set. The Seated Liberty dime, particularly its Legend Obverse subtype of 1860-1891, seems to be the most common host coin for love token engraving, with the gold dollar close behind.
The wonderful thing about these is that one can collect them as coins AND as one-of-a-kind miniature masterpieces of a lost art. That makes them a great "two in one" collectible. And they pack a lot of bang for the budget, too, considering how relatively inexpensive most are.
Another advantage to collecting Seated dimes this way is that since I am collecting coins that have had their mintmarks removed, I need not concern myself with finding rarer branch mint coins like some of the Carson City issues. Some of the years when dimes were produced in small quantities at Philadelphia only (especially 1844, 1846, 1879, 1880, and 1881) will prove challenging, however.
NOTE: though you see "Wanted" tags below, please do not post offers directly on this forum or you'll get me accused of spam. By all means, do PM me if you have some to offer, but this thread is for discussion purposes only. I only added the "Wanted" tags so it could also double as a wantlist when I link into it from BST or elsewhere.
Photobucket slideshow
The numbers in parentheses at the end of each line are the combined production of ALL mints during that particular year, excluding proofs.
On coins with monograms where the order of the initials is uncertain, I'll just list them in alphabetical order.
1837
"C", "L", & "M" in monogram.
Gift from "savoyspecial" (CU). (682,500).
1838
"Toler" in script with ornamental border.
Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (2,398,534).
1839
"WBM" in script initials.
Ex-"shelbind" (eBay). (2,376,115).
1840
Monogram with three letters. One is obviously a "K". The others could be "A" and "R" but it's hard to say.
Late 2011 acquisition, provenance forgotten. (2,534,000).
1841
"JNM"(?) in script.
Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (3,630,000).
1842
Old English "A" within wreath. Part of a matched pair with the 1855 coin, below.
Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (3,907,500).
1843
"H" and "M" in monogram, with ornamental flourishes.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (1,520,000).
1844Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. (72,500).
1845
"X" in ornamental border.
Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (1,985,000).
1846Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. (31,300).
1847 Semi-key date. Scarce. (245,000).
1848
"CFW" in script.
Semi-key date. Scarce. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (451,500).
1849
Fancy "R" initial in border.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (1,139,000).
1850 
Old English "P" in concentric circles.
From a bulk lot purchased on eBay. (2,441,500).
1851
Old English "L" within ornamental border with sunbursts.
Part of a matched pair of clothing studs with an 1853 identical twin which is not displayed as part of this set.
Ex-eBay. (1,426,500).
1852
"Claribel" in script below lighthouse. Probably from a bracelet.
Ex-eBay. (1,935,000).
1853
"Minnie" around top hat, with "89" and flourishes below (presumably the latter is the engraving date?)
Ex-eBay. (13,273,010).
1854
Old English "D" in fancy star. Probably once mounted on a button or cufflink.
Ex-"pinetreecoinandjewelry" (eBay). (6,240,000).
1855
Old English "A" within wreath. Part of a matched pair with the 1842 coin, above.
Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (2,075,000)
1856
"H" and "W" in monogram with ornamental border.
Ex-"mrcrest" (eBay). (7,030,000).
1857
Floral design in geometric border. Probably once mounted on a hatpin or similar piece of jewelry.
Ex-"yoyolz" (eBay). (7,120,000).
1858
"QP" (or maybe "PP"?) in script with wreath, flourishes, and ornamental border. Original suspension ring.
Ex-eBay. (1,890,000).
1859
"C", "E", and "P" in monogram, with ornamental border.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (970,000).
1860 (786,000).
1861
"RWS" with marsh scene and stork. These stork pictorials might have once been christening gifts. Not only do I live in the coastal marshlands, but a stork flew right in front of me on the day I bought this. More amazingly, it has all three of my initials in sequence! (Comments thread) Ex-eBay. (2,055,500).
1862
"DE" (or maybe "DC"?) in Old English letters. Old center mount- may have been a button or cufflink.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (1,027,750).
1863
"J", "K", and "S" (or maybe I,K,S?) in monogram. Old center mount- probably was a button or cufflink.
Semi-key date. Scarce. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (171,500).
1864Semi-key date. Scarce. (241,000).
1865Semi-key date. Scarce. (185,000).
1866Semi-key date. Scarce. (143,000).
1867Semi-key date. Scarce. (146,000).
1868
"C", "E", and "F" in monogram.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (724,000).
1869(706,000).
1870
"B", "B", and "W" in monogram.
Ex-Sunday & Sunday Antiques (goantiques.com). (520,500).
1871
"Dio" in Old English letters, with flourishes & border.
Ex-"lkrarecoins" (CU). (1,246,850).
1872
"JWD" with geometric design and stork in well-executed marsh scene with flying birds in sky.
Ex-eBay. (2,620,980).
1873
Single masted schooner sailing left in seascape with waves and birds.
Ex-"legacycoins_collectibles" (eBay). (4,431,891).
1874
"J", "O", and "W" in monogram with fancy border and rays. Ex-eBay. (3,190,117).
1875
"Will" and two-masted schooner sailing right over textured waves. Ex-"exo" (eBay). (24,065,000).
1876
"Papa" in fancy script below landscape with church scene.
Ex-eBay. (30,150,000).
1877
"ELB" in inverted horseshoe, with flourishes and border.
Ex-"coinsjewelry" (eBay). (17,350,000)
1878
"D", "H", and "M" in monogram.
Ex-"eirikrtripartite" (eBay). (1,877,200).
1879
"A" and "J" in monogram with ornamental border.
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. High grade host coin. Ex-"seanq" (CU). (14,000).
1880 
"C", "I" (or "J"), & "L" in monogram with ornamental border.
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. I found this piece in a bulk lot for only $7.50! Not long before that, I had bought a different one for about $125.00. I resold the $125.00 example at cost, and kept the lucky cherrypick. Both were remarkably similar in grade. Both ex-eBay. (36,000).
1881
"A", "H", and "W" in monogram, with flourishes.
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. Ex-"Minerscoin" (CU). (24,000).
1882
"E" and "L" through "C" in small monogram, below horse's head.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (3,910,000).
1883
"PETE" on fence, with chick hatching from egg below.
Ex-eBay. (7,674,673).
1884
"J.J.T." above river scene with boats and the Brooklyn Bridge. A nice companion to the 1887 "Statue of Liberty" piece below. Both this and the coin below date within a year of the dedication of the landmarks they portray. Ex-eBay, 2011. (3,930,474).
1885
"WJH" in banner across inverted horseshoe.
Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (2,576,187).
1886
"P. L." below lighthouse and seascape, with partial ornamental border and scroll above.
Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay). (6,583,208).
1887
"MA-MA" with Statue of Liberty scene and rope border. Like the "Brooklyn Bridge" piece above, the host coin dates to within a year of the opening of the landmark. Ex-Heritage Long Beach Tokens & Medals Auction #110, Lot 29116, 09/2008. (15,737,679)
1888
"Ivy De" or "Joy De"(?) in script, with parachute (!) and ornamental border.
Ex-"engraved" (CU). (7,215,655).
1889
"FHI" or "FHJ" in script with flourishes and fancy borders. Very intricate.
Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay), 04/2008. (8,352,678)
1890
"SPL" (or SPI?) monogram on high grade host coin.
Ex-"oscarsaab" (eBay). (11,334,027).
1891
"CEB" script initials, with flourishes above and below.
Ex-"mrcrest" (eBay). (23,046,116).
September, 2011: The Barbers are coming! The Barbers are coming!
By the turn of the century there were more branch mints producing dimes, but fewer got made into love tokens. By this period the fashion was probably starting to taper off a bit from its late-Victorian era peak. It did continue well into the early 20th century, however. When Seated dime love tokens were my exclusive focus, I (reluctantly) passed up some lovely pictorials (like seascapes) because they were on Barber dimes. Not any more! On we go, up to 1916...
1892
"DF" in fancy script.
Ex-eBay. (16,952,410).
1893(7,591,341).
1894
"E", "F", and "M" in geometric style monogram with ornamental border.
Ex-eBay. (2,050,000).
1895(2,250,000).
1896(3,185,056).
1897(12,877,377).
1898(20,152,507).
1899
"A", "C", and "P" in monogram with ornamental border.
Ex-eBay. (24,097,493).
1900(24,778,270).
1901(25,072,678).
1902(27,950,000).
1903(28,293,300).
1904(15,400,357).
1905(24,806,822).
1906(29,764,371).
1907(34,536,470).
1908(23,099,000).
1909(14,481,000).
1910(5,882,000).
1911(33,599,000).
1912(34,529,300).
1913(20,270,000).
1914(31,368,230).
1915(6,580,000).
1916(24,310,000).
Master index of my collections, treasure hunting tales, and other stuff.
0
Comments
Click on this link to see my ebay listings.
-Paul
By the way, I still have Lordmarcovan's prehistoric liteside project, a seated liberty type set in a white binder. All of kinds of slabs too.
Oh yes you are right!
I forgot!
I have a nice 1871 holey seated dime love token if you are interested.
It is ornately engraved, with the name "DIO" on the reverse. I has an interesting border as well.
There is a nice clean hole almost perfectly centered on the obverse top.
I paid $12 bucks for it about 2 years ago. It's yours for $12 and I'll ship it for free.
PM if you are interested.
Regards,
Len
"La Vostra Nonna Ha Faccia Del Fungo"
Best,
Andy
I have some I could drill holes in
1883 seated dime
jim
Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
Lafayette Grading Set
1891
1841
1868 but it is a masonic love token
1851
1838
1876
1884
1854
Buying top quality Seated Dimes in Gem BU and Proof.
Buying great coins - monster eye appeal only.
That sound pretty gay?
Thank you, LordM....Just glad I was able to be of assistance.
Len
"La Vostra Nonna Ha Faccia Del Fungo"
GREAT idea for a set. You should write a little article for Coin World on the subject.
I'll keep my eye out for LT's for you.
Your photos are really good. What do you use to shoot 'em?
Cheers,
Bob
Congrats on your new finds! Could you post an updated want list so we can help you look, or do you want to find these on your own?
Aaron
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
How will they be housed? Album, Capital holder?
Good luck with your quest.
Nice pics using a scanner.
Scott
Good to see your newps. That's a nice run in the 50s that you have going. The 50s love tokens seem to have generally been made into cufflinks so they usually have solder residue and other attachments. Keep up the good work.
Andy
you have your work cut out for you with some of those dates, but you can do it!
www.brunkauctions.com