Love Token Coins
It was a tradition of years ago, when someone would be away from their loved ones for any length of time, a coin token was given, as a reminder. Also for special occasions such as births and weddings, a token coin was given. Many of the coins were also engraved marking what the event or occasion was for the recipient.
This special token was primarily done by men who were about to be absent from their wives or sweethearts. Sailors about to set sail, convicts about to serve prison sentences, or soldiers about to go to war, would give their loved ones a special coin to remember them by. With no phones or emails, and letters took weeks, these tokens meant a great deal to the person waiting back home.
These token coins would also mark occasions Many people receiving these tokens would be attached to a watch fob, to a necklace, bracelet or brooch. such a birth, wedding and death, with special engraving about the event and a date.
Some of the oldest tokens were done in England in the 1300s. Their popularity grew in the 1800s and through World War One in the U.S. and European nations. The engraved coin can give you some insight about an ancestor if there is such a token in the family heirlooms. That is worth checking.
A big-time in the U. S. was 1865, nearly everyone in the United States had lost someone during the American Civil War. More aware of mortality, Americans wanted to keep their loved ones close and express their feelings. In the United States, the fad, according to some reports, created shortages of dimes because so many were being engraved. These tokens would be handed down to descendants.
Many people see these love tokens as “Touching those invisible dreams and fingerprints of the past seems to fulfill a promise of enduring love.” A popular saying engraved on the tokens was “When this you see, remember me”.
Some popular American coins used the most, because they were of silver or gold, were the Liberty Seated Dime, the Half Dime and the Quarter.
Photo: “When this you see, remember me” -engraved on the other side of a coin.
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