So... tell me what you find interesting, intriguing, and/or appealing about this coin (if you do)

Yes, there were certainly CW soldiers' ID badges made from coins (most I've seen were on half dollars), and the presence of a city in addition to the name would normally lend credence to that idea, but in this particular instance the named individual seems to be too young, having been born after the Civil War, circa 1872. And the 1857 host coin likely already had plenty of circulation wear before it got engraved.

Pinning down a specific individual named on a love token definitely increases the value. And an old photograph to "put a face to the coin", even more so, in my opinion!

Yes, the evidentiary links are often circumstantial. This one is about "as good as it gets", though there have been a few more intricately detailed stories uncovered by people researching these sort of things. All too often the facts have been lost to history and only thin threads remain. But shedding even a little bit of light onto one of these miniature mysteries is wonderful. That sort of thing is what got me interested in old coins in the first place.

As to the market values, that depends largely on the bidders. I was "pulling numbers out of the air" when expressing the opinion that the photo and historical link made this coin a $100-ish item. (That's only if I was a bidder.) I suspect I was one of the top 20 eBay bidders on love tokens in the country for a while. And it's such a small niche that "top" in the eBay market just means someone who's occasionally willing to stretch above $100 USD for special pieces. I did often face stiff competition for nicer pieces, and only won 50% or less of the items I went for. The market for love tokens seems to have warmed up a little bit in the decade I have collected them.

Is an interest in these a romantic thing? You bet. Sure it is. There's lots of romance in it, and where the tangible history ends, one can use a little imagination to fill in the gaps. I for one don't think there's anything wrong with that. I've always been a romantic, daydreamy type, and love to imagine backstories to the historical coins in my collection.

The neat thing about love tokens like this is that there are solid clues to link it to an actual person from the past. You can't usually name the long-dead person who once owned an UNengraved Seated dime, or see a picture of him!

Chance #18 for you, then.

Chance #19 for you.

This is not inconceivable, and is certainly more plausible than a Civil War connection, since our Harry Filer seems to have been a generation too young for that earlier conflict. Chance #20 in the drawing for you, though I think you and @Mainebill posted after my midnight deadline. I'll stretch it a little for y'all, since I know folks have other stuff than these forums on their minds today. I'm surprised there were as many responses as there were, really.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I will draw a number for our winner after I go eat (again) and do some family stuff.

 

Ahh, OK, in a burst of enthusiasm I went ahead and did the drawing, using the random.org random number generator, as usual.

The number it selected was 5.

This means @H8_modern won the coin!

Sorry, I don't know how to do a screenshot on my phone, so I can't post the random.org results the way I usually do.

Jim- I have your address already, and oddly enough you already have a love token coming in the mail from me (that Vickie shilling I mentioned in our prior conversation- I mailed it a couple of days ago.)

You are NOT to deduct anything from my tab with you for this coin. And though you're my first and probably best CoinTalk trading partner, you won this giveaway completely by random chance rather than personal favoritism (though I'm pleased with the random outcome).

I'll pop "The Coal Man's Dime" in the mail to you after I get back home.

~RWS/ "LM"

 

@NLL- Sorry- it looks like maybe I goofed and forgot to give you a number in the drawing. Wouldn't have made a difference in this case, though, and considering your repeated success in some of my drawings, hopefully you won't mind. (The random.org number generator seems to like you, doesn't it?)