First Love...token

Veep

I picked-up my first ever love tokens at a show a couple of weeks ago. This one I like the best.

astrorat

Congrats on the purchase. Love tokens can be a lot of fun.

Lane

ConstellatioCollector

V,

Where were these minted?

CC

gargoyle62

Please tell me these aren't worth anything. I've passed up a couple of these that I've found at work
(I process coin for a living)

Veep

I've seen all kinds of prices based upon the denomination and the degree of artwork that was put into them. The one pictured is on a dime (Barber, Seated?) and cost less than $10. Another that I have is engraved on one side only and still has the reverse of a Seated Quarter. It was about $20.

Love tokens aren't minted. An existing coin has its surface(s) planed off and is then engraved with some image, monogram or other artwork. As a result of the planing, they are quite thin. My pieces are really quite basic, There are some very elaborate ones out there. I just liked the dime one because it had a person's name and a date engraved on the reverse. It kind of tells a story or at least let's me imagine one.

Gemini

Very neat coin I like the ones that are engraved with seldom used and now kind of odd female first names.
Like "Minnie" how many females do you know that have a name like that today...

lordmarcovan

Watch out. Those can be habit forming.

I have several, mostly on Seated dimes. I buy the holed ones to hang on my vest. As a matter of fact, there's a picture of one of them in my sig line shot of the "Holey Highlights".

I love that 19th century script.

I had a very ornate one that said "Lillian", on an 1889 dime. Absolutely exquisite engraving, with little rosebuds and everything. That's practically a lost art. I gave it to my mother, since Lillian is her name, after my great-grandmother (though nobody calls her that- she's been called "Happy" since childhood). She took her Lillian love token dime and hung it on her watch band. (Mom has a wild-lookin' watch band- sort of a combination watch band and charm bracelet). We like to pretend that the love token belonged to my great-grandmother when she was young. I suppose there is a tiny chance it could have, though there were probably lots of other Lillians in 19th century America.