Antique Victorian 1845 Love order Token With Enamel "C" on Reverse

Antique Victorian 1845 Love Token With Enamel "C" on Reverse

This beautiful and unique 1845 US Liberty Dime love token and a bold enameled "C" on the reverse. The enameling on this love token is so lovely. A bold "C" in blue enamel is crisp with no losses. The "C" is set within a detailed etched background with green and white framing at the edges of the coin. There is some very small losses to the edges, but this is only noticed on close inspection. This is a unique enameled love token with vivid colors and fabulous etching!


The Love Token Society has this to say about Victorian Love tokens:

The Love Token is a coin that has been smoothed flat on one or both sides and then hand engraved. Engravings are most commonly initials of the giver. Names and dates were also popular and perhaps most special and scarcer were sayings and pictures. Some love tokens were embellished even further with stones, enamel, added raised metal, or cutout designs within the coin. These coins order were made as keepsakes and mementos from the giver to the recipient. The giver, important date, place, or event was intended to be remembered through the love token; a commissioned testimony and executed one of a kind special engraving.

Although it is traditionally believed that these coins were given by a beau to a girl, they extended far beyond those traditional boundaries. They were also given by every imaginable family member as well as friends. A craze had swept the country and school girls were begging and pleading for love tokens. Probably because the love token bracelet was the most popular form of love token jewelry and it took about eight to make a bracelet.

Engravings were executed on practically all denominations of coins, but the Liberty Seated dime was the most popular denomination. There is some speculation as to the reasons. These silver coins were softer, thus easier to engrave than nickel and were a more precious gift than a nickel or the lowly copper cent. The quarter too was popular but two and a half times as costly made it an alternative to those with a bigger purse.