Image on love token

[CTXAgGetter]

I just got this "love token" from a seller on ebay from New Jersey. It is on an 1857 quarter. Nothing significant about it... I just thought it was interesting (and cheap enough). I did a little research before buying and can find zero information on a Shackobite Club.
Anyone know anything?

I assume the pin was worn horizontally... and then the token was holed and worn for some time again after the pin broke off.

Any ideas what the pictorial is?

Slightly different angle

I did what I thought of as fairly exhaustive research on Google and newspapers.com. The word "Shackobite" does not seem to appear anywhere on the internet except for auctions for this token.
Thanks for any help!

 

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[HuntinDog]

The image looks like if held up by the hole... an eagle holding a rabbit in it's tallons.

 

[Roger Mn.]

From what I gather is the Shakobites were a club of trampers.
Tramping and mountaineering. They went on trips to climb mountains and skiing trips.
Read this and the Shakobites are mentioned with 2 other clubs.

OTMC History - The Forties, The War Years and the Post War Renaissance

 

[A2coins]

Good info nice relic

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I see a Jester. Can someone re-post it with the hole on top? It looks like it was used as a brooch and the pin broke off. That T bar hinge with C clasp attachment. The T bar being the earliest hinge used in jewelry.. The Royal Order of Jesters comes to mind.

 

[yaxthri]

I can see no eagle with rabbit nor a jester...
I see maybe a rat or cat or other animal with long tail standing on it's two hind legs (on the side with the hole to the bottom) but the top part makes no sense to me...
I'm intrigued by this piece...

 

[devldog]

Nice old token. Best of luck to you with an ID of this piece. This is an interesting piece.

 

[DCMatt]

Here's a wild guess...

It's a fish (trout) jumping out of water.



Here's the fish shape I see:



Other parts of the image represent the water and the splash.

In the 19th C. fishing clubs were quite popular.

I will further speculate the the name 'Shackobite' is a poetic twist on 'Jacobite' - a political movement to restore the 'true' King to the throne of Britain which largely ended in 1746. However,Jacobian sentiment continued well into the 19th C in popular songs.

 

[Hawks88]

Looks to me like a running fox. Maybe being chased by a large bird. Just a guess.

 

[CTXAgGetter]

Holy junk, that was a lot of replies! Sorry... I posted this right before I had to go out for the night. You guys rocked it with all the theories.
I really like the shakobite theory that ties it to tramp life, but I feel like the piece was made much earlier than their time. I could be wrong. I am only basing that off it being an 1857 coin and the amount of wear it appears to have had since becoming a pin, then pendant.
I definitely thought jester also, yaxthri, and Bigcypresshunter. Thanks for the info about the t-bar hinge and C clasp.
And a fish also crossed my mind, DCMatt. It had occurred to me it sounded a little like Jacobite, but that seemed too far-fetched until I read your take on it.
All interesting ideas! I really liked all the guesses at animals. Thanks for your opinions on the piece. If a different angle or lighting would help, I can easily take more photos.
I'm pleased that my first What Is It? thread was intriguing to some. Thanks for the help! Y'all gave me a lot to think about!

 

[DCMatt]

Holy junk, that was a lot of replies! Sorry... I posted this right before I had to go out for the night. You guys rocked it with all the theories.
I really like the shakobite theory that ties it to tramp life, but I feel like the piece was made much earlier than their time. I could be wrong. I am only basing that off it being an 1857 coin and the amount of wear it appears to have had since becoming a pin, then pendant.
I definitely thought jester also, yaxthri, and Bigcypresshunter. Thanks for the info about the t-bar hinge and C clasp.
And a fish also crossed my mind, DCMatt. It had occurred to me it sounded a little like Jacobite, but that seemed too far-fetched until I read your take on it.
All interesting ideas! I really liked all the guesses at animals. Thanks for your opinions on the piece. If a different angle or lighting would help, I can easily take more photos.
I'm pleased that my first What Is It? thread was intriguing to some. Thanks for the help! Y'all gave me a lot to think about!

This is a really cool piece. Too bad all we can do is speculate on it's origin. Do you have any backstory on it? It looks dug to me. Any idea where it came from?

I like the poetry of the 'Shackobite/Jacobite' thing. And I can easily see the thought process of guys going to the fishing 'shack' to see if the fish are 'biting' to creating the Shackobite Club - especially if it was a bunch of old Scotsmen.

 

[CTXAgGetter]

Best I can tell you is it came from Bob in Monroe Township, New Jersey, who claims the coins and tokens he is selling on ebay came from his "collection of 55 years".
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?isRefine=true&sid=56salesman
But, since I just went and looked that all up, you made me think, "Why don't I just ask Bob?"
I will email him to see if he can give me any ideas on where he got it or why he bought it or what it means. Thanks!

Edit: Done. I'll let y'all know if he replies.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Here's a wild guess...

It's a fish (trout) jumping out of water.

View attachment 1708913

Here's the fish shape I see:

View attachment 1708928

Other parts of the image represent the water and the splash.

I kinda see a fish. But how do you explain the bells?

 

[DCMatt]

I kinda see a fish. But how do you explain the bells?

Water drops. Pretty much everything else is water/drops/splash from the trout or salmon leaping.

And I haven't anything to drink this morning... yet... 'cept coffee...

 

[CTXAgGetter]

Bob's response to my inquiry:
I purchased that years ago and still don't know what it is. Thanks. Bob

We may never know, folks. For all I know, the Shackobite Club could have had one member, two members or far more. It apparently was important enough or just funny enough for someone to make this pin and then wear it a bunch. Over than that, I got nothing.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Water drops. Pretty much everything else is water/drops/splash from the trout or salmon leaping.

And I haven't anything to drink this morning... yet... 'cept coffee...

Your hypothesis is as good as any but the perfectly round engravings that look like bells on a jesters outfit are kind of evenly spaced and each one is at the end of something. the problem here is the shallow engravings have worn away and we are only seeing the deep ones. It has also shows scrape line damage.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I think we are seeing another one here and I think there are more than 5. Water droplets? Jester bells? Sleigh bells? I think its solvable. Its just gonna take time and interest.

 

[DCMatt]

Your hypothesis is as good as any but the perfectly round engravings that look like bells on a jesters outfit are kind of evenly spaced and each one is at the end of something. the problem here is the shallow engravings have worn away and we are only seeing the deep ones. It has also shows scrape line damage.

I'm still confident it is a fish. The perfectly round engravings were done with a punch like most of the other elements of the design, not hand drawn. They're drops at the end of the splash or the end of a fin on the fish.



I did an image search on 'antique angling club pins' and there are lots of them with the leaping fish motif as you can imagine - even some with water drops around the fish.

My biggest problem with the jester bell theory is 'why?'. We know there were many many angling clubs who put a fish on their club badge, but I don't know of any club that might put a jester on their badge - unless it's a joke. (See what I did there...? Jester... Joke...) OK, I'll stop.

Occam's razor suggests it is a fishing club pin.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

My biggest problem with the jester bell theory is 'why?'. We know there were many many angling clubs who put a fish on their club badge, but I don't know of any club that might put a jester on their badge - unless it's a joke. (See what I did there...? Jester... Joke...) OK, I'll stop.

Occam's razor suggests it is a fishing club pin.

The Royal Order of Jesters comes to mind its a fraternity started around 1911. But I have not been able to find a match. But I think I see the fish now.

My eyes are going bad and I guess its possible to have punched the droplets/bells but no way those letters SHACKOBITE CLUB are punched, by hand nor by machine. Looks hand engraved to me. What other elements were stamped with a punch or die? Are you taking about pinpunching... tap tap tap...with a series of dots?

But like I said, I see the fish now kinda and Im leaning in that direction with you. It does incorporate the word BITE which may be fishing related. Does this tie in any way with the tramping club with the same name? I guess if they go into the mountains, its a good chance they fish too.

 

[DCMatt]

The Royal Order of Jesters comes to mind its a fraternity started around 1911. But I have not been able to find a match. But I think I see the fish now.

My eyes are going bad and I guess its possible to have punched the droplets/bells but no way those letters SHACKOBITE CLUB are punched, by hand nor by machine. Looks hand engraved to me. What other elements were stamped with a punch or die? Are you taking about pinpunching... tap tap tap...with a series of dots?

But like I said, I see the fish now kinda and Im leaning in that direction with you. It does incorporate the word BITE which may be fishing related. Does this tie in any way with the tramping club with the same name? I guess if they go into the mountains, its a good chance they fish too.

Sorry. I didn't mean to imply the letters were punched. They are, no doubt, hand engraved. I think most of the elements of the fish and the splash are stamped using a series of shaped punches. I didn't find an exact match, but something similar to these:



I don't know how the tramping club came up. I didn't find any instance of 'shackobite' except in reference to this token.