Colonial Acres Coins
SKU: SKU:Aug.DOD-Q393
Hong Kong 1888 Love Token on Victorian 10-cent Very Fine (VF20) Toned
Hong Kong 1888 Love Token on Victorian 10-cent Very Fine (VF20) Toned
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Hong Kong 1888 Love Token on Victorian 10-cent Very Fine (VF20) Toned
A charming tradition from the Victorian period, the love token was a handmade trinket traded between sweethearts that was made from a smoothed-down coin. The coin would be hand-engraved with initials, or perhaps a name or a date, or, rarely, a picture, and gifted to a lover as a memento. In a time before photography, they were small and deeply personal keepsakes that could be held in the palm, strung on a chain, pinned to a piece of clothing, or dangled from a chatelaine, connecting courting couples across time and space.
One demographic that especially valued love tokens was sailors. Away from home for months or, sometimes, years at a time, sailors would make, give, or carry love tokens as mementos of their faraway loved ones. This love token, which seems to be initialled "RIC" just under Queen Victoria's face on the obverse, was carved out of a 10-cent piece from the British colony of Hong Kong. It isn't hard to imagine a British sailor on duty in China, crafting this trinket while he thought fondly of a sweetheart back home.
A charming tradition from the Victorian period, the love token was a handmade trinket traded between sweethearts that was made from a smoothed-down coin. The coin would be hand-engraved with initials, or perhaps a name or a date, or, rarely, a picture, and gifted to a lover as a memento. In a time before photography, they were small and deeply personal keepsakes that could be held in the palm, strung on a chain, pinned to a piece of clothing, or dangled from a chatelaine, connecting courting couples across time and space.
One demographic that especially valued love tokens was sailors. Away from home for months or, sometimes, years at a time, sailors would make, give, or carry love tokens as mementos of their faraway loved ones. This love token, which seems to be initialled "RIC" just under Queen Victoria's face on the obverse, was carved out of a 10-cent piece from the British colony of Hong Kong. It isn't hard to imagine a British sailor on duty in China, crafting this trinket while he thought fondly of a sweetheart back home.
