Woohoo, I bid "stupid money" on Heritage and won this without having to PAY stupid money!
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,893 ✭✭✭✭✭
I HAD to have this for my love token Seated dime set. I already had an 1887 dime, but you can bet this one will bump it out.
1887 was just a year after the Statue of Liberty was dedicated. Somebody was thinking of his Mama around the time, too.
I'm way behind on scanning and adding the new additions to that collection, but I have added some pictorials, now- they're no longer all monograms and initials. You might not "get it", but I think even people who aren't into exonumia can see why this love token was appealing.
Too bad the host dime isn't in higher grade, but eh, who cares.
Cool, huh?
1887 was just a year after the Statue of Liberty was dedicated. Somebody was thinking of his Mama around the time, too.
I'm way behind on scanning and adding the new additions to that collection, but I have added some pictorials, now- they're no longer all monograms and initials. You might not "get it", but I think even people who aren't into exonumia can see why this love token was appealing.
Too bad the host dime isn't in higher grade, but eh, who cares.
Cool, huh?
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Edit to add: By the way, it's a very cool love token.
<< <i>You're assuming it was made in 1887. Might have been made in the 1890's to commemorate someone bringing his mother through Ellis Island. Mama is a more common term for mother in Italian than English.
Edit to add: By the way, it's a very cool love token. >>
Good point. The amount of wear on the dime might indicate just that. I didn't really assume the love token engraving was done at the same time as the host coin was minted, but it's kind of neat that the date on the host is only a year after the statue's dedication. It would have been cooler still had it been done on an 1886 dime.
I recently picked up one with an anchor on it and another with a parachute(!) I can't help but wonder how common parachutes were as love token pictorial subjects in the late 19th century. Can't have been too common. I went after one with a swan and another with a shaving mug and razor (on eBay) but did not bid strongly enough. I have a hunch that if this one had been on eBay it would have closed much nearer my "stupid money" bid.
Edit to add" "stupid money" in this context means I bid close to a hundred bucks (would have been a little over a hundred with the juice). Not out of the ballpark for nice pictorial love tokens, but more than I am accustomed to paying. But I won it for $59, which makes me a very happy camper.
Here's the Mt. Rainier piece that started my love token collection. There was a debate at one point as to whether to call the mountain Mt. Rainier or Mt. Tacoma.
I spent a great summer at an internship in the Seattle area, so this piece really caught my eye.
It could just be where an earlier loop attachment broke off, maybe?
Coin's for sale/trade.
Tom Pilitowski
US Rare Coin Investments
800-624-1870
It's hard to imagine someone today wearing down the back of a Sacagawea dollar and putting some art on it, but I suppose some folks do it. I've seen some interesting contemporary pieces.
Was metal engraving 'big' back in the late 1800s that everyone was doing it?
My first thought was that the rim area above the hole was filed down to facilitate looping.
TD
<< <i>Fascinating stuff. Are these typically made out of dimes? Are other denominations used? I have seen only a few so far but never really paid much attention.
It's hard to imagine someone today wearing down the back of a Sacagawea dollar and putting some art on it, but I suppose some folks do it. I've seen some interesting contemporary pieces.
Was metal engraving 'big' back in the late 1800s that everyone was doing it? >>
The Seated Liberty dime is probably the most common host coin for a love token, but all denominations were used. Gold dollars are probably next behind Seated dimes. The practice extends back well into the 17th century and probably earlier, and lasted well into the 20th century. The heyday of love token engraving seems to have been from the mid-1870s into the 1890s or so, which is probably one reason dimes became the primary hosts for these miniature masterpieces. The ornate hand-engraving done on some of these is exquisite, and it is sort of a lost art. (And in terms of execution, this piece is merely "average"- it is appealing for its subject matter, more than the artistry.)
I started by picking up a few random pieces for the Holey Coin Vest, and really liked them, but didn't get drawn into collecting them by date until January of this year. Andy, aka "engraved", who responded above, has been one mentor. (Edit to add: in fact, I owe him thanks for pointing this one out to me- without him spotting it, I would never have seen it.)
The nice thing about collecting love token Seated dimes by date is that with the reverses planed off and engraved, you don't have to fret over mintmarks- it's strictly a "one-a-year" set. Some of those years are going to be really tough, though- there are some dates that are hard enough to find in any condition, let alone as a love token!
very nice piece Rob!
www.brunkauctions.com
I'd like to interrupt this thread with a SSP.
Anyone sees a similar dime 1888 with QUEENIE engraved on the back I'd reward you.
Stolen 1982.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso