100888 | UNCERTAIN. Artist's Palette/A–E–E silver Love Token.
Details
100888 | UNCERTAIN. Artist's Palette/A–E–E silver Love Token. Engraved mid-late 19th century possibly on a Seated Liberty or Barber Dime (18mm, 1.54 g, 12h).
Artist's palette, with three brushes and dabs of paint / Highly ornate A–E–E monogram. Edge: Reeded.
Engraving & host coin: Choice Extremely Fine. Lightly toned and lustrous; with clasp attached at the top.
Being borrowed from the early 18th century practice in Great Britain, and being related to even earlier forms of engraving on European coinage, "love tokens" were an extremely popular form of sentimental art that saw their high point in the United States in the mid-to-late-19th century, whereby coinage was smoothed down on one or both sides, and some form of initials, a message, and/or imagery was engraved so that it may be presented to a loved one. The most commonly encountered 'canvas' in the United States was the dime, and usually one from the Seated Liberty series. At their height, the U.S. Mint blamed an alleged shortage of dimes—a staple of most late-19th century transactions—on this craze. Rising again in the early-mid 20th century during the depths of despair that were the world wars, this form of coin art, usually referred to in this context as "trench art," would see another revival, offering soldiers a brief chance at escapism through sentimental creativity.
A dual-sided creation, this piece prevents a more certain attribution given the lack of any original obverse or reverse detail remaining, though it is likely an American or Canadian dime from the mid-late 19th century. Besides the typically encountered monogram, this specimen also features an artist's palette, possibly pointing toward the artistic talent of the recipient, or even the creator.
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