What are love tokens? The love token is a coin that has been smooth on one or both sides and then hand
engraved. The most common engravings are the donor's initials, followed by names and dates. Some
love tokens were made even more beautiful with gemstones, enamel, or designs made by cutting away
metal. These coins were made to be sentimental keepsakes and invoked memories from the donor to the receiver.
There are two different requirements for a love token:
First: the engraved image should be on a legal tender coin (that means, the kindonm´s or government´s coin).
Second: the engraving should be handmade.
Of course, if a coin is graved on both sides then it is more difficult to identify the hots coin.
Most coin from the USA have reeded edges, so coin collectors accept that appearance as genuine coins.
Traditionally held ideas suggest that these coins were given by a beau to a girl but they extend beyond that.
They also were given by family members and friends. By the 1880's, an obsession had
spread trough the country, and the school girls were begging for and requesting theselove
tokens. The bracelet was the most popular form of the love jewelry and could take up to
eight years to collect enough coins to complete one.
Love tokens were made from almost every coin denomination, but the Liberty Seated dime was the most popular
one followed by both half dimes and quaters. People speculate that silver was solf and easier to engrave than the
nickel. Also, higher denominations meant more valuable presents and silver was an excepted and popular metal
for jewelry. Still, these coins had to remain small enough to be used in the making of bracelets. The small size of
these coins presented a challenge for some engravers.
Whichever coin was selected, they all bore similar sentiments, feelings, and emotions between the giver and the
recipient. While some people could show their love more than other people and may have used a gold host coin,
the message was still of remenbrance and love. The Victorian period was a very sentimental time and love
tokens are a permanent reminder of these feelings.
Web Oficial Love Token Society:
Love Token 
