LOVE
TOKEN
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| love token |
Unlike in
today's society where a token of love might mean a poem, flowers or
chocolates, the ancient tradition for romance and bonding was to give
a lady a love token or engraved coin.
Love
tokens are generally defined as coins that have been engraved with
some sort of personal message.
The term
is a bit of a misnomer since many of the engravings on coins have
nothing to do with love but actually recorded births or deaths.
However,
the practice of young suitors passing a lady a token of love began to
be practised widely in Britain from the late 1700s.
Indeed,
it is the English 18th century milled silver coinage and engravings
on old crowns or half crowns which mostly capture people's
imagination.
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| love token |
It must
be remembered though that such engravings on coins were often carried
out decades later than the date of the coin.
It was
the custom for gentlemen from Medieval times and up until the late
16th century to bend a copper coin and give it to his beloved as a
token of his love and a sign of his intention to marry her.
It was
never to be spent and was hoped that it would be carried by his lady
to act as a constant reminder of his love.
Other
tokens popular in the Middle Ages included veils, gloves and !
handkerchiefs.
Throughout,
the ages, jewellery was an important love token made from precious
metals and stones.
In the
18th century, wealthy young men would use a silver or even gold coin
whilst the poorer man would make his token from a copper coin.
Usually
both or one side was rubbed down so a design or message could be
created. The most collectable tokens today are those engraved with
hearts and arrows and flowers and doves.
It must
be remembered that the true numismatist (coin collector) often sees a
love token as a defaced period coin though, with research, they are
becoming increasingly popular.
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| love token |
A most
poignant example of a love token were those produced by British
prisoners about to be transported to the penal colonies in
Australia.
For
collectors today, it is often difficult to differentiate between a
love token or whether its original purpose were to act purely as a
good luck charm.
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| love token |
Victorian
fancies
A great
variety of love tokens were created in Victorian times and were often
engraved on farthings, silver threepenny pieces and sometimes even
sovereigns. Some gentlemen in the 1850-80 period often had a watch in
their fashionable waistcoat pockets on which hung a number of love
tokens.
The
fashion for love tokens migrated quickly to the United States in the
1840s where the Seated Liberty dime was a popular choice for
engravers.
American
tokens have also been seen on half cents and even the twenty dollar
gold pieces.
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| love token |
Factors
which can affect the value of a token is the denomination of coin
selected and the ornateness and romance of the overall design, as
well as its subject (e.g. sport).
In some
instances, the value of a token has risen rapidly because research
has provided a true love story about whom the token was created.
The Love
Token Society defines a true love token as one which is 'made from
coins which were at some time in circulation and must be hand
engraved'.
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