LordM love token set draft- Barber dime expansion
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,530 ✭✭✭✭✭
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 (coins with hand-engraved folk art). 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 engravers set up at fairs and expositions who would do the work, but in today's world, it's mostly a lost art.
I'd 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 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 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 enough, however.
UPDATE (September 2011): this set has been so much fun I've decided to expand it by adding the Barber dimes, too!
Photobucket slideshow
Photobucket album
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 w/ ornamental border. Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (2,398,534).
1839
"WBM" in script initials. Ex-"shelbind" (eBay). (2,376,115).
1840
(2,534,000).
1841
"JNM"(?) in script. Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (3,630,000).
1842
Old English "A" w/wreath. Part of a matched pair w/the 1855 coin, below. Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (3,907,500).
1843
"H" & "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" in geometric border w/sunbursts. Part of a matched pair of cuff buttons w/an 1853 twin. Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (1,426,500).
1852
"Claribel" in script below lighthouse. Probably from a bracelet. Ex-eBay. (1,935,000).
1853
"H" & "I" in monogram w/ornamental border. Original suspension ring. Ex-"eztoken" (eBay). (13,273,010).
1854
"S W" in script w/ornamental border & flourishes below. (6,240,000).
1855
Old English "A" w/wreath. Part of a matched pair w/the 1842 coin, above. Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (2,075,000)
1856
"H" & "W" in monogram w/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 w/ wreath, flourishes, and ornamental border. Original suspension ring. Ex-eBay. (1,890,000).
1859
"C", "E", & "P" in monogram, w/ ornamental border. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (970,000).
1860
(786,000).
1861
Old English "L" (or maybe "I"?). Ex-"engraved" (CU). (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", & "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", & "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, w/flourishes & border. Ex-"lkrarecoins" (CU). (1,246,850).
1872
"A", "B", and "C" in monogram. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (2,620,980).
1873
"Minnie" in script, w/flourishes & border. Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay). (4,431,891).
1874
"J", "O", and "W" in monogram w/ fancy border and rays. Ex-eBay. (3,190,117).
1875
"C", "F", & "P" in monogram w/ fancy border. Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (24,065,000).
1876
"Papa" in fancy script below landscape with church scene. Ex-eBay. (30,150,000).
1877
"ELB" in inverted horseshoe, with fancy flourishes and border. Ex-"coinsjewelry" (eBay). (17,350,000)
1878
"D", "H", and "M" in monogram. Ex-"eirikrtripartite" (eBay). (1,877,200).
1879
Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. (14,000).
1880
"C", "I" (or "J"), & "L" in monogram w/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
"M.N.H" in fancy Roman capitals, w/garlands & border. Ex-J.T. Stanton collection (eBay). (3,930,474).
1885
"WJH" in banner across inverted horseshoe. Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (2,576,187).
1886
"Fred" in script w/flourishes above and leafy garland below. Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay). (6,583,208).
1887
"MA-MA" w/Statue of Liberty scene and rope border. Ex-Heritage Long Beach Tokens & Medals Auction #110, Lot 29116, 09/2008. (15,737,679)
1888
"Ivy De" or "Joy De"(?) in script, w/ parachute (!) and ornamental border. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (7,215,655).
1889
"FHI" or "FHJ" in script w/flourishes & 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, w/flourishes above and below. Ex-"mrcrest" (eBay). (23,046,116).
September, 2011: The Barbers are coming! The Barbers are coming!
Maybe in general there are more Barber than Seated dimes out there, because by this time there were more branch mints producing coins, but fewer got made into love tokens. By this period the fashion was probably starting to taper off a little bit from its late-Victorian era peak. It did continue well into the early 20th century, however, as I intend to demonstrate. When Seated dimes were my focus, I reluctantly passed on some lovely pictorials (like seascapes and town scenes) because they were on Barber dimes. Not any more! On we go, up to 1916...
1892
(16,952,410).
1893
(7,591,341).
1894
(2,050,000).
1895
().
1896
().
1897
().
1898
().
1899
().
1900
().
1901
().
1902
().
1903
().
1904
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1905
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1906
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1907
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1908
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1909
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1910
().
1911
().
1912
().
1913
().
1914
().
1915
().
1916
().
Master index of my collections, treasure hunting tales, and other stuff.
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, it's mostly a lost art.
I'd 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 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 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 enough, however.
UPDATE (September 2011): this set has been so much fun I've decided to expand it by adding the Barber dimes, too!
Photobucket slideshow
Photobucket album
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 w/ ornamental border. Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (2,398,534).
1839
"WBM" in script initials. Ex-"shelbind" (eBay). (2,376,115).
1840(2,534,000).
1841
"JNM"(?) in script. Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (3,630,000).
1842
Old English "A" w/wreath. Part of a matched pair w/the 1855 coin, below. Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (3,907,500).
1843
"H" & "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" in geometric border w/sunbursts. Part of a matched pair of cuff buttons w/an 1853 twin. Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (1,426,500).
1852
"Claribel" in script below lighthouse. Probably from a bracelet. Ex-eBay. (1,935,000).
1853
"H" & "I" in monogram w/ornamental border. Original suspension ring. Ex-"eztoken" (eBay). (13,273,010).
1854
"S W" in script w/ornamental border & flourishes below. (6,240,000).
1855
Old English "A" w/wreath. Part of a matched pair w/the 1842 coin, above. Ex-"zebiak-maritime.intl" (eBay). (2,075,000)
1856
"H" & "W" in monogram w/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 w/ wreath, flourishes, and ornamental border. Original suspension ring. Ex-eBay. (1,890,000).
1859
"C", "E", & "P" in monogram, w/ ornamental border. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (970,000).
1860 (786,000).
1861
Old English "L" (or maybe "I"?). Ex-"engraved" (CU). (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", & "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", & "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, w/flourishes & border. Ex-"lkrarecoins" (CU). (1,246,850).
1872
"A", "B", and "C" in monogram. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (2,620,980).
1873
"Minnie" in script, w/flourishes & border. Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay). (4,431,891).
1874
"J", "O", and "W" in monogram w/ fancy border and rays. Ex-eBay. (3,190,117).
1875
"C", "F", & "P" in monogram w/ fancy border. Ex-Charles Rickard (wcsdeals.com). (24,065,000).
1876
"Papa" in fancy script below landscape with church scene. Ex-eBay. (30,150,000).
1877
"ELB" in inverted horseshoe, with fancy flourishes and border. Ex-"coinsjewelry" (eBay). (17,350,000)
1878
"D", "H", and "M" in monogram. Ex-"eirikrtripartite" (eBay). (1,877,200).
1879Key date. Rare, especially as a love token. (14,000).
1880 
"C", "I" (or "J"), & "L" in monogram w/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
"M.N.H" in fancy Roman capitals, w/garlands & border. Ex-J.T. Stanton collection (eBay). (3,930,474).
1885
"WJH" in banner across inverted horseshoe. Ex-"love-tokens" (eBay). (2,576,187).
1886
"Fred" in script w/flourishes above and leafy garland below. Ex-"rarecoinsgallery" (eBay). (6,583,208).
1887
"MA-MA" w/Statue of Liberty scene and rope border. Ex-Heritage Long Beach Tokens & Medals Auction #110, Lot 29116, 09/2008. (15,737,679)
1888
"Ivy De" or "Joy De"(?) in script, w/ parachute (!) and ornamental border. Ex-"engraved" (CU). (7,215,655).
1889
"FHI" or "FHJ" in script w/flourishes & 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, w/flourishes above and below. Ex-"mrcrest" (eBay). (23,046,116).
September, 2011: The Barbers are coming! The Barbers are coming!
Maybe in general there are more Barber than Seated dimes out there, because by this time there were more branch mints producing coins, but fewer got made into love tokens. By this period the fashion was probably starting to taper off a little bit from its late-Victorian era peak. It did continue well into the early 20th century, however, as I intend to demonstrate. When Seated dimes were my focus, I reluctantly passed on some lovely pictorials (like seascapes and town scenes) because they were on Barber dimes. Not any more! On we go, up to 1916...
1892(16,952,410).
1893(7,591,341).
1894(2,050,000).
1895().
1896().
1897().
1898().
1899().
1900().
1901().
1902().
1903().
1904().
1905().
1906().
1907().
1908().
1909().
1910().
1911().
1912().
1913().
1914().
1915().
1916().
Master index of my collections, treasure hunting tales, and other stuff.
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