1876 Seated Liberty Dime

LOTSOS

Hello,



I'm not a coin guy but had this coin passed along to me by my grandfather along with my uncles collection when I was a kid. I always wondered why the back of the coin was engraved. My guess was that perhaps it was done as practice by a jeweler or something. Just curious if anyone could share a little knowledge with me.



Thanks in advance for anyone who takes the time to reply.

Kevin



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OldEastside

Its a love token.......very popular back then to express love to your sweetie
Hopefully the Lord will chime in and give ya a better explanation on them
Oh and yes they are very collectable

Steve

lordmarcovan

That, sir, is a love token.



Here is some history on them.



I happen to collect them and am a member of the Love Token Society. You can see a few in my "Oddball" collection link in my signature line (though that collection thread is in dire need of updating).



The 1870s and 1880s were the peak of this trend, and the 1876 dime is one of the most common host coins for love token carvings. That being said, your piece has nice engraving in the classic late-Victorian style.



Trent's sweetheart probably had that engraved for him. I suspect you're right- jewelers probably did a lot of the engraving, but I think there might have been artisans at fairs and expositions who did them as well. It is something of a lost art, but the modern "hobo nickel" artists have adapted the practice to modern times and taken it even farther.



One cool thing about love tokens is that no two are exactly identical.



Your piece is fairly typical, with a name or monogram, and would likely be a $10-20 item at retail.

ricko

Nice engraving work.... Cheers, RickO

LOTSOS

Steve & Lord,



Thank you both very much for taking the time to share your knowledge with me. That's a much cooler story than I would have ever guessed.



Kevin