Love Tokens
I have been finding a lot of Love Tokens in collections lately so I thought I would take a moment to post a recent find. Love Tokens are coins where one or both sides of a coin have been removed and then smoothed over. Once smooth, an engraver marks the coin with initials, artwork, poems, etc. Here is the latest one that I came across:
The Love Token pictured above is a dime from the late 1800s where the reverse was removed and then the initials “AB” were engraved into it along with some images and other markings. A loop was added to the top of the token allowing it to be attached to a necklace or bracelet. Obviously, by taking a coin and turning it into a Love Token, you remove all of the numismatic value of the coin. Fortunately, there is still a collectors market for these tokens.
If you have an interest in Love Tokens, there is a great website called lovetokensociety.com with a lot of very useful information.