Altered 1884 Morgan Worth Every Penny

We've seen this auction before in another thread, but didn't talk about it much. Yes, it's a beautiful portrait, very detailed, but to me it looks more like a photogravure (right word?), i.e., used the same process (acid?) by which newspapers used to make plates for printing pictures, as opposed to a direct engraving. I wouldn't want to call it a love token either although I don't know what else to call it (except just a "token").

It's up to $645 with 29 bids at the moment, a level I might expect to see for a true love token made of an 1850s gold $1. I wouldn't have guessed that it would go that high and it's still got 20+ hours to go.

quote:

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Originally posted by doublv

Poor ettiquette to reintroduce a topic, my regrets. Thanks for the explanation of just how it was accomplished, I was wondering.

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No, no, it's OK. I can't find the thread and we didn't discuss it hardly at all. And I'm just guessing on how it was made; I could be all wet (it's been known to happen on rare occasion [:0] ). I would like to hear from others who might have more insight into this token.

Fred

PS (next day) - I couldn't find the thread since it was on the WINS list.

Yes, $2247. I still wish I knew the mechanism for placing the image on the Morgan, whether it was truly engraved (presumably by hand) or was etched on by a chemical process.