When, after a week straight of watching owl videos on Youtube, I saw this charming little number in @lordmarcovan 's BST posting (his photography is clearly better than mine) I knew it was meant to be. Also, I've always liked the name Phebe, despite never having met one. I believe the depiction is of the Great Horned Owl which I would love to have as a pet
"Phebe" is certainly an old-school name, ain't it? That's the first time I've seen that spelling. I'm more accustomed to seeing the "o" spelling ("Phoebe"), but that not very often, either. Can't take credit for the photos. Those were done by the previous owner, from whom I bought the coin. This was a great piece, and I had to have it. It's got a nice high grade host coin, too. Had I not decided recently to sacrifice my love token collection to feed my "Eclectic Box", I would not have parted with this one. My wife and daughter and I are all into owls. It's sort of our family totem (though we should probably use cats, since we have 11 of those). I inherited my grandmother's collection of owl plates and figurines and passed them on to my daughter. I was utterly terrified of owls as a small child (they were my prime phobia), but that terror evolved into fascination and respect as I grew older.
PS- me too, but I'd be very wary of those talons and beaks! I believe the species here is Bubo umbrellinsis, the Lesser North American Umbrella Owl. Something of an endangered creature as I understand it- you see, they have difficulty feeding, since the umbrellas create drag and hamper their flight when they attempt to dive on their prey. Fortunately, only the females of the species are hampered by the umbrellas.
Sweet. Thanks. I've been known to have seller's remorse before. But I'm also happy and proud when somebody really likes something I've sold or swapped 'em, sort of like a father giving away his daughter as a bride, I guess. (Not that I'd know about that... yet. Victoria is 16.)
Nice love token! Owls are interesting birds. I saw the "Phebe" coin when I was also looking for an "owl" love token. By the way, in the owl world the girls are bigger than the boys. I found this out after I began having "visitors" in October of 2016. Horned owl pair, boy on left, girl on right I did find this love token about the same time: Love token on 1877 Liberty Seated dime with owl
One thing both of these tokens demonstrate is that old school romance, where people said to hell with the fact that they can't draw and just did the darn thing in the name of love
They also bear a resemblance to the Shady Urban Flimsy Bumbershoot Owl, which only appears in the rain on the streets of Manhattan as soon as a drop of rain appears and can be had for 5 to 10 bucks. Sadly, these majestic creatures have incredibly short lifespans and tend to perish nearly immediately after handing the street vendor payment.
They also bear a resemblance to the Shady Urban Flimsy Bumbershoot Owl, which only appears in the rain on the streets of Manhattan as soon as a drop of rain appears and can be had for 5 to 10 bucks. Sadly, these majestic creatures have incredibly short lifespans and tend to perish nearly immediately after handing the street vendor payment.
I have a hunch that @willieboyd2's example might be a unique one-off piece, whereas the OP piece I sold @Numismat was a "stock design", maybe even from a pattern book (I'd love to see confirmation of the existence of such a book!) The reason I suspect this is a stock design is because I've seen two examples of very similar pieces with a pair of frogs on them- in the exact same style - umbrella (parasol) and all! I can't remember offhand, but I think the male frog had a top hat, too. I've also seen a stock design of an Asian couple in Chinese coolie hats walking in a landscape with a lake and a pagoda in the background. Seen that one two or three times, with nearly identical carving but different names or initials. Other popular and common themes of the time like lighthouses, horses, horseshoes, and storks were likely often carved in advance and personalized later, with names or initials added when they were sold.
That prospect thoroughly destroys the enchantment of some old timey fella putting his heart into making something special for his love. It's also an important reminder that things were not really that different in the late 1800's than they are now, as far as commercializing convenience.
Yep. But there was still a craftsman, and some sweethearts, and a story there. Not everyone had the skills to do this, after all. And the upside to these "stock design" pieces is that the people who carved them had mad skills. The exceptionally high quality of the engraving is another tipoff that a pro did it. If the average Joe Schmo had carved this for his gal, it wouldn't be much to look at. Mind you, I've never seen another with this pair of owls. That's why I snapped this piece up, and for strongish money, too. I just suspect there might have once been others, due to the similarity to the "frogs" pieces I mentioned. (Of which I've seen exactly two examples in ten years.)
