Well, at least it’s currently the “coolest” in my personal collection. Among other things, I collect Liberty Seated dime love tokens by date. To make it into my collection of more than 150 pieces, each love token must be unholed and unmounted – I’m down to eight dates needed for completion. Love tokens have always fascinated me. If one blanket statement could be made about love tokens, it would be “all love tokens are unique.”
My most recent acquisition is unquestionably unique. In fact, this 1890 Liberty Seated dime love token has a face value of 15 cents! The host coin is pleasing EF overall with good eye appeal. The reverse of this unusual piece has an 1856 half dime embedded at the center with an array of flourishes encircling the rim and MAUD at the bottom. Who was Maud and what is the significance of the two dates? If Maud was born in 1856, she would have been 34 years old in 1890. Perhaps she was married and this was from her hubby on her birthday, or it could be a memorial to someone who died at just 34 years old.
That’s the fascination of love tokens to me. Each token is yearning to tell a story, but the tale it tells is left entirely up to my imagination. I have numerous “pictorials” in my collection, coins with images instead of just initials, and I’ve got love tokens from all the branch mints in multiples as well in my hoard. Many of them are quite interesting, but for now the 1890 “15-cent” piece is the star of the collection!
