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Love Token set draft
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,215 ✭✭✭✭✭
Many of you know I've been a "holey" coin collector since the millennium. In the course of buying holed coins for my famous Holey Coin Vest, I've come across some interesting love tokens (19th century folk art hand engraved on coins).
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 engravers set up at fairs and expositions who would do the work, but in today's world, the skill is less common, and perhaps limited to a few people like a few select jewelers, or those who engrave currency plates and things of that nature.
I've 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.
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 probably 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, in the late 19th century.
Here's what I'll be looking for in a love token Seated dime:
1. A readable date on the host coin, since I am collecting them by date. My collecting is simplified since I don't need date and mintmark combinations. In most cases the mintmark on the coin was planed off with the rest of the reverse prior to engraving, anyway. Condition in the traditional numismatic sense is irrelevant, as long as the piece (particularly the engraving artwork) is in good condition with nice eye appeal. For example, cleaning, artificial toning, and other traditional coin no-nos are a moot point with these, obviously. After all, they've already been holed and tooled (albeit attractively so).
2. I want ONE tidy hole, at or near the top. Many folks prefer to collect unholed pieces, which are a bit scarcer, or looped pieces. I want "holeys", not unholed pieces, but I want holeys with a good hole position, preferably at the top of one side (usually the obverse). I don't really want multiple-holed pieces or pieces where the hole goes through the date or is off to one side. I might accept some pieces with mounts or loops attached but I would prefer a tidy hole. (Loops and mounts are rather delicate and prone to break off, for one thing). I don't want pinbacks, interesting though they are. (They're more commonly found on the larger coins, anyway.)
3. The better the engraving and the more interesting the subject, the more valuable the love token, to me as well as everyone else. Collectors seem to prize "scenics" most of all. These are pieces with miniature landscapes, buildings, and so on, engraved onto the coin. Flowers, birds, and animals, ships and trains, musical instruments, and other pictorial elements are a big plus. Sometimes just a fancy border or geometric design can be impressive, though, when one considers how much detailed hand work went into these pieces.
The wonderful thing about collecting 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 wonderful sort of "two in one" collectible.
Lord Marcovan Love Tokens: a date set of "holey" Seated dimes with love token engraving
LT01-1837
LT02-1838
LT03-1839
LT04-1840
LT05-1841
LT06-1842
LT07-1843
LT08-1844
LT09-1845
LT10-1846
LT11-1847
LT12-1848
LT13-1849
LT14-1850
LT15-1851
LT16-1852
LT17-1853
LT18-1854
LT19-1855
LT20-1856
LT21-1857
LT22-1858
LT23-1859
LT24-1860
LT25-1861
LT26-1862
LT27-1863
LT28-1864
LT29-1865
LT30-1866
LT31-1867
LT32-1868
LT33-1869
LT34-1870
LT35-1871
LT36-1872
LT37-1873
LT38-1874
LT39-1875, "MAY" in Roman capitals, with geometric top & bottom borders.
LT40-1876, "CSR"(?) in fancy script monogram, with fancy ornamental border around edge.
LT41-1877
LT42-1878
LT43-1879
LT44-1880
LT45-1881
LT46-1882
LT47-1883, "AFS" in fancy Roman capital monogram, with fancy border around edge.
LT48-1884
LT49-1885
LT50-1886
LT51-1887
LT52-1888, "MEH"(MEC?) in fancy script.
LT53-1889
LT54-1890
LT55-1891
Duplicate(s) for sale or trade
1875, "RHN / '85" in fancy script, with ornamental border around edge, holes at top of obverse and to either side of host coin's date. As I see it, this piece has one detracting factor (the presence of more than one hole, which might not be a detraction to someone else), and two positive factors: the skilled engraving and the presence of a second, hand-engraved date. Obviously this was given to or bought by "RHN" in 1885.
MY OTHER COLLECTIONS:
Lord Marcovan Roman Imperials. Begun March, 2007. A portrait set of Roman Imperial coins from Augustus to Zeno. My core collection of the moment.
The Victoria Hope Collection. Begun September, 2001. A type set of 1901 British Empire coins with Queen Victoria's portrait. (Still adding pictures).
The Holey Coin Vest & Holey Gold Hat. Begun Fall, 2000. Holed world and US coins from ancient times to 1900. (No page yet- need pictures for the coins).
Digger's Diary: The "Keeper" Coins Album. Begun Fall, 1992. All of my noteworthy coins found with a metal detector. (Under construction- a long project).
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 engravers set up at fairs and expositions who would do the work, but in today's world, the skill is less common, and perhaps limited to a few people like a few select jewelers, or those who engrave currency plates and things of that nature.
I've 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.
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 probably 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, in the late 19th century.
Here's what I'll be looking for in a love token Seated dime:
1. A readable date on the host coin, since I am collecting them by date. My collecting is simplified since I don't need date and mintmark combinations. In most cases the mintmark on the coin was planed off with the rest of the reverse prior to engraving, anyway. Condition in the traditional numismatic sense is irrelevant, as long as the piece (particularly the engraving artwork) is in good condition with nice eye appeal. For example, cleaning, artificial toning, and other traditional coin no-nos are a moot point with these, obviously. After all, they've already been holed and tooled (albeit attractively so).
2. I want ONE tidy hole, at or near the top. Many folks prefer to collect unholed pieces, which are a bit scarcer, or looped pieces. I want "holeys", not unholed pieces, but I want holeys with a good hole position, preferably at the top of one side (usually the obverse). I don't really want multiple-holed pieces or pieces where the hole goes through the date or is off to one side. I might accept some pieces with mounts or loops attached but I would prefer a tidy hole. (Loops and mounts are rather delicate and prone to break off, for one thing). I don't want pinbacks, interesting though they are. (They're more commonly found on the larger coins, anyway.)
3. The better the engraving and the more interesting the subject, the more valuable the love token, to me as well as everyone else. Collectors seem to prize "scenics" most of all. These are pieces with miniature landscapes, buildings, and so on, engraved onto the coin. Flowers, birds, and animals, ships and trains, musical instruments, and other pictorial elements are a big plus. Sometimes just a fancy border or geometric design can be impressive, though, when one considers how much detailed hand work went into these pieces.
The wonderful thing about collecting 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 wonderful sort of "two in one" collectible.
Lord Marcovan Love Tokens: a date set of "holey" Seated dimes with love token engraving
LT01-1837LT02-1838LT03-1839LT04-1840LT05-1841LT06-1842LT07-1843LT08-1844LT09-1845LT10-1846LT11-1847LT12-1848LT13-1849LT14-1850LT15-1851LT16-1852LT17-1853LT18-1854LT19-1855LT20-1856LT21-1857LT22-1858LT23-1859LT24-1860LT25-1861LT26-1862LT27-1863LT28-1864LT29-1865LT30-1866LT31-1867LT32-1868LT33-1869LT34-1870LT35-1871LT36-1872LT37-1873LT38-1874LT39-1875, "MAY" in Roman capitals, with geometric top & bottom borders.
LT40-1876, "CSR"(?) in fancy script monogram, with fancy ornamental border around edge.
LT41-1877LT42-1878LT43-1879LT44-1880LT45-1881LT46-1882LT47-1883, "AFS" in fancy Roman capital monogram, with fancy border around edge.
LT48-1884LT49-1885LT50-1886LT51-1887LT52-1888, "MEH"(MEC?) in fancy script.
LT53-1889LT54-1890LT55-1891Duplicate(s) for sale or trade
1875, "RHN / '85" in fancy script, with ornamental border around edge, holes at top of obverse and to either side of host coin's date. As I see it, this piece has one detracting factor (the presence of more than one hole, which might not be a detraction to someone else), and two positive factors: the skilled engraving and the presence of a second, hand-engraved date. Obviously this was given to or bought by "RHN" in 1885.
MY OTHER COLLECTIONS:
Lord Marcovan Roman Imperials. Begun March, 2007. A portrait set of Roman Imperial coins from Augustus to Zeno. My core collection of the moment.
The Victoria Hope Collection. Begun September, 2001. A type set of 1901 British Empire coins with Queen Victoria's portrait. (Still adding pictures).
The Holey Coin Vest & Holey Gold Hat. Begun Fall, 2000. Holed world and US coins from ancient times to 1900. (No page yet- need pictures for the coins).
Digger's Diary: The "Keeper" Coins Album. Begun Fall, 1992. All of my noteworthy coins found with a metal detector. (Under construction- a long project).
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MY OTHER COLLECTIONS:
Lord Marcovan Love Tokens. Begun January, 2008. A date set of holed US Seated Liberty dimes with love token engraving on the reverses.
Lord Marcovan Roman Imperials. Begun March, 2007. A portrait set of Roman Imperial coins from Augustus to Zeno. My core collection of the moment.
The Victoria Hope Collection. Begun September, 2001. A type set of 1901 British Empire coins with Queen Victoria's portrait. (Still adding pictures).
The Holey Coin Vest & Holey Gold Hat. Begun Fall, 2000. Holed world and US coins from ancient times to 1900. (No page yet- need pictures for the coins).
Digger's Diary: The "Keeper" Coins Album. Begun Fall, 1992. All of my noteworthy coins found with a metal detector. (Under construction- a long project).