"Spiny Lighthouse Seascape"
lordmarcovan
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"Spiny Lighthouse Seascape"
Pictorial love token on 1864 two-cent piece
Obverse: original shield motif, unaltered. Reverse: seascape with lighthouse and sailboats in square frame with edge embellishments. Host coin: 1864 USA 2-cent piece. Ex- "fairoakscoin", eBay, 11/13/2014.
Though I had sold off my old love token collection, I continued browsing that category on eBay, and one day I spotted this one. A two-cent piece is a slightly less common host coin for a love token, and this had an appealing pictorial carving on the reverse, so I made an offer and bought it. So what if the lighthouse here looks a bit more like a sea urchin perched atop a pedestal, or a prickly pear cactus? I like it, and actually think this is a pretty well-engraved piece.
Engraved/Counterstamped/Oddball Type Set
Pictorial love token on 1864 two-cent piece
Obverse: original shield motif, unaltered. Reverse: seascape with lighthouse and sailboats in square frame with edge embellishments. Host coin: 1864 USA 2-cent piece. Ex- "fairoakscoin", eBay, 11/13/2014.
Though I had sold off my old love token collection, I continued browsing that category on eBay, and one day I spotted this one. A two-cent piece is a slightly less common host coin for a love token, and this had an appealing pictorial carving on the reverse, so I made an offer and bought it. So what if the lighthouse here looks a bit more like a sea urchin perched atop a pedestal, or a prickly pear cactus? I like it, and actually think this is a pretty well-engraved piece.
Engraved/Counterstamped/Oddball Type Set
0
Comments
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
BHNC #203
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Very well done for a simple design that I don't even care you can see the sailboats at night.
Quite a good idea, engrave a coin with a large surface area made in a soft metal with a low face value and then silver it. However, this is the first one I have ever seen like that!
Neat
Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
<< <i>I like that a lot! Question since I know nothing about love tokens- Is there a way to tell if the engraving is period correct to the coin and not recent? >>
Mostly a matter of style. I've no doubt this one is 19th century, but it was probably done after the host coin had circulated a while, perhaps circa 1880s to 1890s, when these were at the peak of their popularity.
<< <i>Hard to tell from you image... Is it Brown or was it Silvered? >>
Not my images- I am temporarily using the eBay seller's pictures, since all I have at hand right now is a scanner and it came out looking horrible on that. The coin is brown and not silvered.
The engraved side has a seemingly random rotation in relation to the obverse.
<< <i>just crossover into "hobo nickels" already >>
I've got nothing against hobo nickels, actually. I think they're pretty neat. But I also think I'll stick to the 19th century.
I just stumbled across a piece I used to own, on eBay.
That's the thing about love tokens and engraved pieces. They're all unique. I was startled to see that IHC being offered. I'm going to try to get it back.
<< <i>Were many people sailing for pleasure in the 1860's and 70's? >>
Plenty, yes, though as it is today, yachting was a rich man's sport. So your eastern robber baron types probably were. The America's Cup races began in the 1850s, if I remember correctly.
Finally updated this with new pix. While my photography isn't terrific, they're at least comparable to the old seller's images, which died on me.
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