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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,771 |
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Valued Member
United States
89 Posts |
got a small nice coin collection from my grandpa it has a some junk silver coins, a few morgans, and quite a few older Seated Liberty dimes, Mercury dimes, and halves alot of them are from the 1800's and really early 1900's I have just recently taken up this hobby from my dad and grandpa who have done it for years there are some values on the coin holders, but they are old and my grandpa isn't sure what any of them would be worth now is there a good recommendation on were to look or should I just google each coin? My real question is about this coin it is a 1882 Seated Liberty dime in decent shape I guess (I am new remember), but the back is some kinda crazy design I did a little research and found a few possible reasons the one that looked similar they were saying was a love token (I think) are these worth anything or do they just ruin a old coin and does anyone have any ideas on a way to maybe find out where the design came from? Any help or point in the right direction would be appreciated I really enjoy this site since I have have joined and learned alot you guys really know your stuff. Thanks again (PICS BELOW)  By [URL="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/mikebrax]mikebrax[/URL] at 2011-03-13  By [URL="http://profile.imageshack.us/user/mikebrax]mikebrax[/URL] at 2011-03-13 Edited by MikeBrax
03/13/2011 6:02 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
952 Posts |
some of the love tokens are worth $$......but I hAVE NO IDEA WHICH ONES. you might want to try checking ebay to see if there are any on there that are going for decent money. that's a really nice carving and it looks like it's been there awhile, so it's prob a good one to have. |
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Valued Member
United States
455 Posts |
What you have here is a love token. Someone carved the reverse of the coin into the initials of their loved one. There are people who collect love tokens and the value is somewhat enhanced due to the fact that a person did a lot of intricate work on that coin. I am not sure exactly what the value would be of the token, but it should be worth at least $75.00 or more. Lets see what the experts write in this thread.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
870 Posts |
Welcome to the hobby! Love tokens are really tough to valuate. It's a case where if they mean something to someone, they're worth a lot more than they are to "love token" collectors. The designs ARE insane and it seems to me they should be worth more, but there are so many of them, they're just not worth that much. On the whole, you should expect $10 - $20 on an ebay sale of one (one like this one), BUT I've seen some really cool, unique ones sell for over $100 and more. BUT if it was passed down from your Grandfather - the REAL value is the story behind it. Why did he buy it? Was it passed to him? Is there any way to identify who it was made for and is your family story in any way interwoven? That's where the gold is... :D In talking to your grandfather and learning the stories behind the coins. If he just got it because he thought it was cool, then that's fine too. =) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4415 Posts |
Looks like the initials on this one are C.S.E. Some love tokens are difficult to decipher. I concur with Delaner on the value. Less ornate designs can be had for $5-$10 at coin shows. Artistic pictorials tend to be worth $75 and up. The host coin adds somewhat to the value. For example, relatively few Twenty Cent Pieces were converted into love tokens. Other factors that are appealing to collectors of these are unusual names and events. Personal info that might help ID the original owner would also add to the appeal. Years ago, I found one with my initials, and I still have it. Seated dimes tend to be the most common host coin utilized. |
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Valued Member
United States
361 Posts |
Why do you suppose Seated dimes were the most popular coins to use as love tokens? |
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Valued Member
 United States
89 Posts |
it is strange most of them I have found are the same coin, but they most of them don't seem to be as dtailed.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3278 Posts |
That one has got to be in the "more ornate" group.
She's a beauty.
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Valued Member
United States
161 Posts |
Seated dimes were the most popular to use as love tokens for a few reasons, they were abundant, fairly easy to spare at the time, and large enough that one could still easily read the design. most love tokens go cheap on ebay, I would keep it for yourself, it probably holds more sentimental value than collector value. I've been collecting/studying Seated dimes for nearly 25 years, id be willing to help you with any that you have.
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Valued Member
United States
89 Posts |
that would be great I'm working on getting some pictures I canot seem to get them to come out good every time. Yeah I looked on ebay and they are going for $7-29 I would much rather keep it and try and figure out where it came from |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
it is tough to find love tokens with your initials on them. The easiest ones to find are the one letter love tokens and the three letters that match your initials can be tough to find. I searched for a few years to finally find one with my initials but found my daughters without hardly trying. if you can get two people with those initials looking at the coin the price can go up
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4415 Posts |
This fad of making and giving love tokens seems to have blossomed in the 1880's. The most commonly seen silver coin was then likely the dime. It's dainty size in comparison to the quarter and larger coins would better lend itself to use as ornamental jewelry. Often, a group of love tokens would be strung on a bracelet or necklace; and in time, many of which were subsequently dismantled.
Unless a love token bearing only initials has been passed down through a family, I'd venture to say that the possibility of attributing it to a specific, original owner is virtually nil.
Looking for a love token with specific initials? The best bet for finding one would be at a large show. Some dealers may have a binder or box with nothing but. Seek out "exonumia" dealers (dealers in tokens, medals and coin-related items) who can point you in one direction or another.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Most love tokens were made from the late 1870's to the early 1890's. If you gave your girl a lovetoken made from a cent of a nickel you might be thought of as "cheap" (Low value and not precious metal) A dime was decent size, a significant sum of money, but not so much as to be a serious handicap. It was also small enough to make a nice bangle on a bracelet or a pendant without being gaudy. A quarter or larger was serious money, harder to afford to commit to.
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Valued Member
United States
89 Posts |
Wow! Great love token design! If I were you, I would hold onto it because of the amazing history behind it. If you try to sell it on ebay or somthing, you might not get as much as you were expecting. |
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
A dealer named Ed Valentine collected love tokens, from Half Cents to gold. His opening line would be to ask your initials, and he usually had them. The best one I had was on a Columbian half. Unlike most, where the reverse was smoothed and then engraved, on this one the jeweler brazed the letters on in what looked like brass, then feathered the edges of each letter. |
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,771 |
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Posted 03/13/2011 6:45 pm
