1851 Liberty Head Gold Coin With Odd Design On Reverse

Fuzzy317 hit the nail on the head, but to expand - A "Love Token" is a coin that was engraved and given to a lady (usually) or a child as a token of affection in the 1800's through the early 1900's primarily. One side of a coin usually chosen for the date (birthday or aniversarry, etc.) is engraved by hand with the persons initals. Love tokens are often found on charm bracelets, necklaces and even as cufflinks or stick pins.

As to a value? The coin is now damaged as a collectible coin, but many people collect Love Tokens on their own. This looks like a $2.5 dollar Liberty is it the same size as the Indian Head $2.5 coin or the Dollar sized coins? I wouldn't take less than melt value for a similar coin, even though there has been gold removed by shaving down the coin to make the engraving the artistic value makes it worth saving as a collectible. So whatever the value of a similar sized gold coin is worth in low grade or melt value is how to price this piece IMO. Now if you can find someone with the same intials as on your coin, you might be able to kick up the price a wee bit to them. It's a neat looking Love Token regardless.

Thank you for solving the reverse side question Fuzzy317!

You say it was left to your family. Your over all family or immediate family? One thing that can make these pieces much more interesting is if you know the story behind them. Who was it made for? Who gave it to them? What was the occasion? Was it just a passing infatuation or did the relationship blossom and become more permanent? Since you know where the piece came from, can you trace it back to the original owner? The initials seem to be AS and either I J or L. (You can't be sure what order the initials should be in either.) so can you track it back?