1891 Seated Liberty Dime Custom Coin 0

[FairwayDriver]

Hello everyone!

I have inherited a relative's coin collection and I have found some interesting stuff.  One coin that stood out was a 1891 seated liberty dime that has a puncture hole at the top so that it can be worn as jewelry.  The obverse side is in excellent condition and the reverse side has been altered to say "Aunt Hattie" with decorations around it.  I was wondering if these types of custom coins have any kind of special value or if they are essentially junk.  I also wondered if there is any to prove that it is an actual vintage piece of jewelry and not a modern fabrication.

Pictures attached

Thank you,

FD

[Greenstang]

Welcome to the Forum

That is what is known as a "Love Token" . If you Google it you will find several for sale on eBay. Though it is considered a damaged coin, there are collectors who save originals such as yours, especially when it has a name on it. Someone had a lot more patience than me to do the work that is involved in making that one.

 

[Coinbuf]

As Greenstang noted these love tokens are actually quite popular with a small segment of collectors,  I have no idea of value as I'm not part of that segment but if you search the ebay sold listings you may be able to get a ballpark figure.  I don't know of anyway to pinpoint its creation, but the darker areas of the hand carved design suggest that the work was done quite some time ago.

[FairwayDriver]

Thank you guys!

 

Looks like its worth around $10.

 

[Kirt]

Very cool. Love tokens are kind of a weird thing - definitely there are collectors, but not a complete overlap with numismatists. Since you said this was a relative's collection, you might spend a little bit trying to figure out if "Aunt Hattie" is family; it would probably be more valuable as an heirloom if you can dig up some info.