Posts: 845
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 07-30-2006 06:00 PM            

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Since the previous Love Tokens thread had gotten a bit long and veered off to 'bursting through' heads, I thought I'd start this new one with a few more examples. The first is just an impressive bit of engraving with a touch of enameling in two colors, on a slightly domed 1876 seated liberty half-dollar:

The next is a bracelet with fairly ordinary tokens, but unusual in having a second tier on seated liberty half-dimes pendant from the first tier on seated liberty dimes. There's also a pair at the end on contemporary Canadian silver 5� pieces:

Saving the best for last, of course: a bracelet of similar construction to the previous; the coins that have one face left are seated liberty dimes (the lock appears to be later):

Here's a close-up of the two tokens near the bottom of the first view (I inadvertently flipped the bracelet in between these, so the order is reversed):

The bird carrying a letter is very nice, but look closely at the engraving of the Brooklyn Bridge -- there's a person jumping or falling from the bridge! The reverse of these two is also engraved:

"Sister" is on the one with the bridge, "Auntie" on the one with the bird. This bracelet was broken and repaired twice, so obviously meant a lot to its owner. I can't help wondering if a sister committed suicide, but that seems such a morbid thing to commemorate in this way. Has anyone seen anything like this before?

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Posts: 1792
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 07-31-2006 09:47 AM            

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FWG,

Thanks for the wonderful images. Pictorial love tokens have always been my favorite. The mailbird design is a lot of fun, and the the bridge scene is fascinating.

If that is indeed a person falling/jumping from the bridge, what an unusual and dramtic scene (there are even spectators in the sailboat below!). But as it hails from the Victorian era, such a death-related scene would not surprise me. In one of the mediocre jewelry price guides, there was a stunning collection of love tokens. The most memorable depicted a couple standing next to a baby's cradle. Beneath the scene was the engraved word "NEVERMORE".

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Posts: 845
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 12-10-2006 03:18 PM            

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Here's a new acquisition that I thought was rather remarkable:

It's on a rather worn seated Liberty quarter, possibly dated 1856. I've never before seen one set with a large stone like this, and such an unusual one at that: abalone (or something similar), very nicely cut, with a perfectly made triangular bezel and rather nice background engraving. Marvelous workmanship for such a relatively mundane item!

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