Is this a love token.....or something else?

[Steve in PA]

A friend of mine e-mailed me these pictures today. He is a jeweler and one of his clients brought it in to his shop. It came from an old ladies house. It looks like an 1800s love token except for a couple problems. This one has date of 1803. The ones I have seen before seem to always be mid to late 1800's based the coin types since the other side usually has the coin still showing. It also has a silversmiths mark on the back "ING". I have never seen a love token with a silversmiths mark. It is 32.5 mm in diameter - the same size as US half dollars minted between 1794 and 1836. That is also very large for a love token. Others I have seen always seem to be made from quarters or dimes. One other odd thing is the location of the hole. If it was suspended from a chain, everything would be upside down!

Any opinions on what this item is commemorating (marriage date?) and who the silversmith might be would be appreciated.

 

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[Bramblefind]

That is a wonderful piece I ran across something like it - a likely 18th C copper with similar marks. So it does appear it was something that was done to coins -

http://www.cointalk.com/t194561/

 

[CRUSADER]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

 

[Steve in PA]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

Cru,

I hadn't thought about a silversmith marking a smooth coin so it could stay in circulation. My thinking was the silversmith marked on the back was the one who did the engraving. I guess it could go either way......

 

[Silver Searcher]

Cool find looks like the letters are N S B

SS

 

[CRUSADER]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

Cru,

I hadn't thought about a silversmith marking a smooth coin so it could stay in circulation. My thinking was the silversmith marked on the back was the one who did the engraving. I guess it could go either way......

Not really, the silversmith did it to assure people it was really silver & therefore had a value as a kind of token (weight of silver being the important factor in trade).
The incising of the coin is amatuer.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

Cru,

I hadn't thought about a silversmith marking a smooth coin so it could stay in circulation. My thinking was the silversmith marked on the back was the one who did the engraving. I guess it could go either way......

The term ‘love token’ is a bit of a misnomer as many of the engravings have nothing to do with ‘love’ but instead recorded births or deaths. A popular habit was to take a coin, usually a crown or halfcrown, and engrave on it some special piece of information like a birth date or the commemoration of a death. Sometimes the engraving is detailed and tells you the name of the person, the exact date.

SS

 

[stefen]

Many such tokens are holed so they can be worn on strings or chains...

I would say that this one is punched and not drilled...evidenced by the material around the opposite side hole edges.

 

[CRUSADER]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

Cru,

I hadn't thought about a silversmith marking a smooth coin so it could stay in circulation. My thinking was the silversmith marked on the back was the one who did the engraving. I guess it could go either way......

The term ‘love token’ is a bit of a misnomer as many of the engravings have nothing to do with ‘love’ but instead recorded births or deaths. A popular habit was to take a coin, usually a crown or halfcrown, and engrave on it some special piece of information like a birth date or the commemoration of a death. Sometimes the engraving is detailed and tells you the name of the person, the exact date.

SS

True, just a generic term that most are familar with. Many reasons why someone might do an engraving, like the coin my Dad found with a named boat incised on a 1908 halfpenny:

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

Cru,

I hadn't thought about a silversmith marking a smooth coin so it could stay in circulation. My thinking was the silversmith marked on the back was the one who did the engraving. I guess it could go either way......

The term ‘love token’ is a bit of a misnomer as many of the engravings have nothing to do with ‘love’ but instead recorded births or deaths. A popular habit was to take a coin, usually a crown or halfcrown, and engrave on it some special piece of information like a birth date or the commemoration of a death. Sometimes the engraving is detailed and tells you the name of the person, the exact date.

SS

I agree with everything said. The date 1803 has some significance, possibly a birth. I think its a cool piece. Im curious, does it have a reeded edge?


I found a holed silver with what appears to be a birth and death date 3 days apart.
12-30-43--1-2-44 My hole is on the top.Its quarter size. The back has an engraved number. SS, do you think mine is a love token?

 

[Steve in PA]

Cool find looks like the letters are N S B

SS

Thanks SS, I have never been very good at reading fancy script like this.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Is the edge reeded Steve or is it worn smooth?

 

[piegrande]

That was a cool job, changing the colors of those letters so we could read them. I bet I could do that with my photo editor, but I don't know how. Still, the fact it can be done is worth remembering. Knowing something can be done makes it easier. Clever!

 

[Silver Searcher]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

Cru,

I hadn't thought about a silversmith marking a smooth coin so it could stay in circulation. My thinking was the silversmith marked on the back was the one who did the engraving. I guess it could go either way......

The term ‘love token’ is a bit of a misnomer as many of the engravings have nothing to do with ‘love’ but instead recorded births or deaths. A popular habit was to take a coin, usually a crown or halfcrown, and engrave on it some special piece of information like a birth date or the commemoration of a death. Sometimes the engraving is detailed and tells you the name of the person, the exact date.

SS

I agree with everything said. The date 1803 has some significance, possibly a birth. I think its a cool piece. Im curious, does it have a reeded edge?


I found a holed silver with what appears to be a birth and death date 3 days apart.
12-30-43--1-2-44 My hole is on the top.Its quarter size. The back has an engraved number. SS, do you think mine is a love token?

Well it seems it has the special date imformation, so it could be, it looks as if that was hung around somebody's neck as a reminder, is it Silver.
It could also be a Mourning coin, coins that recorded deaths were probably linked to the well-established custom of providing ‘mourning rings’ for those invited to the funeral. Giving a ‘mourning coin, was obviously rather cheaper, than giving a ring. That is a very interesting find Big C, and I'm tended to go with the later

SS

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

That was a cool job, changing the colors of those letters so we could read them. I bet I could do that with my photo editor, but I don't know how. Still, the fact it can be done is worth remembering. Knowing something can be done makes it easier. Clever!

My hand isnt steady enough to make nice lines like that. I wonder if some part of the program helps or he has a steady hand..

 

[Silver Searcher]

That was a cool job, changing the colors of those letters so we could read them. I bet I could do that with my photo editor, but I don't know how. Still, the fact it can be done is worth remembering. Knowing something can be done makes it easier. Clever!

My hand isnt steady enough to make nice lines like that. I wonder if some part of the program helps or he has a steady hand..

Did it with Windows paint program, and the spray can tool, on the Mouse

SS

 

[Steve in PA]

Is the edge reeded Steve or is it worn smooth?

My friend has the piece. I will have to check with him.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Well it seems it has the special date imformation, so it could be, it looks as if that was hung around somebody's neck as a reminder, is it Silver.
It could also be a Mourning coin, coins that recorded deaths were probably linked to the well-established custom of providing ‘mourning rings’ for those invited to the funeral. Giving a ‘mourning coin, was obviously rather cheaper, than giving a ring. That is a very interesting find Big C, and I'm tended to go with the later

SS

Thanks. I had a thread running a long time here but couldnt figure for sure what it was with differing opinions. I think mourning coin was mentioned by PBK as a good possibility. The gravesite number engraved on the backside. http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,30059.0.html

I found it at a known shipwreck location after a hurricane. The beach being about all we have to metal detect in South Florida.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Yes Love Token were made out of whatever people decided, no rule on what was used, from copper to large silver.

It has history & when the coin was worn blank, a silversmith marked it up after testing, so it could continue in circulation, in times of silver shortage. Then someone decided to make it into the Love Token, but the hole is a puzzel, unless they were thinking like a nurse & their watches

Are those like chopmarks?

 

[Silver Searcher]

Well it seems it has the special date imformation, so it could be, it looks as if that was hung around somebody's neck as a reminder, is it Silver.
It could also be a Mourning coin, coins that recorded deaths were probably linked to the well-established custom of providing ‘mourning rings’ for those invited to the funeral. Giving a ‘mourning coin, was obviously rather cheaper, than giving a ring. That is a very interesting find Big C, and I'm tended to go with the later

SS

Thanks. I had a thread running a long time here but couldnt figure for sure what it was with differing opinions. I think mourning coin was mentioned by PBK as a good possibility. The gravesite number engraved on the backside. http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,30059.0.html

I found it at a known shipwreck location after a hurricane. The beach being about all we have to metal detect in South Florida.

I wonder if she was English, and born and died on the voyage you might be able to trace here hear, if she is English. https://www.familysearch.org/

SS