Ahh, love is in the air. It's that time of year when many people attempt to devise clever and meaningful ways to please their better halves, most often coming back to the usual flowers and chocolates.
And while it's the thought that counts, today's typical Valentine's Day gifts really have no association with the history of the holiday or what it was meant to represent. In honor of St. Valentine himself, who is credited with the origin of the holiday and with sending the first valentine back in the 16th century, giving a love token may be the perfect way to woo a numismatic-loving woman.
In fact, during the peak of their popularity, love tokens were a common way to woo any woman, as they were considered a genuine and respectable way to show one's affection. That may be difficult to imagine today. However, to put it in perspective, love tokens were most often made on the faces of Seated Liberty dimes, and, when the hourly wages of the early 18th century ranged from one to three cents, a dime was a significant chunk of change.
According to Love Tokens as Engraved Coins by Lloyd L. Entenmann, a love token, or a token of love, is a hand-engraved coin, usually bearing a name, image, message or scene intended to show affection for a particular person. Due to this, each token is unique, with no two exactly alike. Entenmann's theory why little history is recorded about love tokens is that each example has a personal story behind it, not of much interest to the general public.
|
Click on image to enlarge
|
|
ACCESSORIES such as bracelets and necklaces were made with love tokens, often using more than one piece.
|
While little history is recorded about them, love tokens are believed to have originated in Great Britain, although the exact time is unknown. They appeared in the United States during the 1820s, at a time when talented engravers were abundant and U.S. dimes were the most plentiful coin in circulation. The relative softness of the silver made the dime the easiest of the era's circulating coinage to engrave (as compared to, for example, the much harder copper-nickel coinage), although examples of love tokens made on copper 2-cent coins, copper-nickel 3-cent coins and silver half dimes, among others, are also known. Love tokens remained a popular gift until 1909, when Congress made it illegal to mutilate a coin, after which the art of engraving love tokens was never truly revived.
Initial disorder
The most common designs featured on love tokens are initials or names. Often these engravings are so ornate it is difficult to decipher the initials or their order (although the presenters and recipients certainly knew), especially if a token features more than two letters.
Other love tokens bear scenes, such as lighthouses or water scenes.
While Congress passed legislation banning the mutilation of U.S. coinage, and the Treasury Department has enforced those statutes against such popularly collected items as love tokens and elongated coins, officials have had a relaxed attitude toward coinage mutilation since the 1960s (as long the coins aren't altered for fraudulent purposes). That means you can create your own love token today.
|
Click on image to enlarge
|
|
MANY LOVE TOKENS have fasteners attached to the backs of them, making them into pins or broaches.
|
To create a love token, before engraving, one or both sides of the coin must be smoothed. Today this is most often done using belt sanders, aluminum oxide paper and buffing wheels, but during their popularity, simple files of various textures were used. The coin is then polished with a cloth to remove any evidence of filing marks.
Despite differences in technique, the tools used to execute the engravings are relatively the same. The process is most often done by hand, using tools called gravers that come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes. The length, width or depth of each engraving depends on the particular graver used and the amount of pressure applied.
Countless engraving styles are used to decorate love tokens, from elaborate cursives to boxy prints. According to Entenmann's book, the most popular print was Engravers Old English. Many capital letters written in this print look very similar, such as "C" and "T," "I" and "J," and "U" and "V." However, the look of any engraving style depends heavily on the engraver's own engraving skills and techniques.
Worn as jewelry
While many love tokens were carried in pockets or purses, others were made into some form of jewelry or accessory for the receiver to wear. Holes would be drilled into the tops of tokens to turn them into bracelets or necklaces.
|
Click on image to enlarge
|
|
THE LOVE TOKEN on the left features simple block lettering, while the love token on the right features a lighthouse on the water scene.
|
Often, multiple love tokens were used to make the jewelry more decorative. Pins were commonly attached to the backs of love tokens to make the pieces into broaches or stick pins. Like bracelets and necklaces, broaches were often made from more than one token while pins usually used just a single piece. Lockets are also known to have been made from love tokens.
Men not only gave love tokens, but they also partook in wearing them. For example, love tokens were converted into overcoat buttons, cuff links, tie clasps, vest chains, watch fobs and also pins.
There is no right or wrong way to collect love tokens. A common way to start is to search for pieces with specific initials or names that provide personal meaning. As Entenmann states, this can be difficult to do when no two love tokens are alike.
An even worse case scenario is finding the right initials or name on a damaged or undesirable piece. However, part of the allure of love tokens is searching for a perfect piece for that perfect person.
If one can't find a love token from the 19th century with the appropriate initials or name, one might want to consider engraving a token on an appropriate coin. Such a gift would be more personal than one made for someone else 150 years ago.
While the act of giving love tokens is no longer as popular as it once was, today they are enjoyed and highly collected by hopeless romantics and hobbyists alike.
