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Valued Member
United States
284 Posts |
This I know: Post Civil War life expectancy, hence reproductive time, was shorter. Families married off their daughters more hastily than now. Love tokens were in vogue in 1873 - as were grandchildren. Many love tokens were crafted from coins bearing the maiden's birth year. The "once-upon-a-coin" imaged below should be 95% copper and 5% zinc and tin. It clearly isn't; at least it's non-magnetic. The coin seems to have been minted exactly in the way of a modern Lincoln Cent: a copper plated zinc core. Why? I've owned this for more than fifty years. I'm fairly sure the elderly coin collector I bought it from acquired it prior to the 1958 lamination decision. How? It tells me a story. Can anyone tell me where my reading of the story goes wrong? MY STORY CONCOCTION: To fashion a love token, someone polished away the reverse devices of what he believed to be an 1873 Indian Head cent. He then etched either his or her initial his into that polished surface. All went well to that point in his project. He turned it over to begin gouging out the innards of the obverse. I observe that he gouged very meticulously in the vicinity of the date. I speculate he'd set his sights on a sixteen to eighteen-year-old female, this would fix the relic's creation to sometime during or after 1889. Venturing deeper into the coin, things went., not so good - wrong alloy! Not to worry! He's planning to gouge the offense out. My story ends with the relic damned to its unfinished fate when very tiny chips flaked off his perfected reverse revealing the unrepairable anomaly. Experts,please say,could this have once been a legitimate 1873 Indian Head cent? Anyone? Was it a counterfeit? If it is, ain't it a beauty - near perfect, methinks (A lot of fine workmanship invested in hope of miniscule return?) Any ideas? Kevin     |
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Moderator
 United States
188213 Posts |
 to the Community! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Not sure how this came to be, but can't believe it's a fake. to the CCF! Edited by Coinfrog
10/30/2020 09:31 am
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2843 Posts |
A very interesting piece for sure. Quote:
The "once-upon-a-coin" imaged below should be 95% copper and 5% zinc and tin. It clearly isn't; at least it's non-magnetic. Copper and zinc and tin are not magnetic. This seems to be a regular, genuine Indian Head cent that was turned love token and soldered to some device for display such as a pin or the likes. The silvery spot on the obverse, maybe it was plated and the plating is falling off. |
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Valued Member
 United States
284 Posts |
Fascinating! Damaged plating or Solder? I assumed (with, I now must admit, insufficient basis for my assumption) that the shiny underlies the brown tone. The opposite is well worth exploration. First question: why might there be solder on both sides? Next question: If (more probably "when") I extract it from its 2x2 coin flip, can you recommend a best way to test the new theory? I've got pretty good equipment. Weighing it won't do much good.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4618 Posts |
to the CCF!  It's a love token that was poorly plated long ago and looks as if it was incomplete or has fallen off over time. The person that modified this genuine Indian Head cent may have even tried silver solder as a cheap "homemade" type of plating, but if they did, it failed. I don't know if you've ever worked with silver solder, but I was a Tinsmith in my early days of employment and, if you get it right, silver solder on copper can look a lot like plating. If I had this coin, I wouldn't do anything that would damage it further. I find it interesting as it is and I don't think it's going make any difference even if you figure out what was done to the coin. I do think that testing or removing any of the silver areas on the coin would cause it look like fresh damage leaving bright copper areas with no age patina. This coin shows lots of damage, but it all looks like it's decades old. ANA ID: 3203813 - CONECA ID: N-5637 Clean a coin that may be worth collecting? Please DON'T! When in doubt, leave it dirty!! 
Edited by Yokozuna
10/30/2020 10:34 am
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Valued Member
United States
284 Posts |
Thank you all. I do feel welcome.
I began work life in the mid-'60's as a typewriter repairman for Remington Rand. I silver soldered type faces onto type bars. I always made a mess of it.
I truly love it when a sage advisor reminds me I don't enjoy maiming history. I especially like it when it's done in timely manner. Thank you. You've also saved me the cost of a 2x2.
Kevin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7618 Posts |
Interesting and crude, but a wonderful love token.
Enjoy it as is. It has lived a long life and needs to enjoy its final years and decades in comfort in a nice holder.
Thanks for,posting!
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Valued Member
United States
284 Posts |
Thus shall it be! Thank YOU for posting.
Kevin
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Replies: 8 / Views: 1,460 |
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Posted 10/30/2020 09:17 am
