I inherited several hundred coins, and this is one I cannot identify. Looks to be an 1861 CSA coin, but the back is different than any examples I can find. Perhaps a token? Thanks for the help.
It is not likely done in the CSA but is a so-called "love token" with an engraved initial. There are dedicated collectors of said pieces and they can offer a better opin of price.
I collect these, yours is apparently dug and cleaned. Not a real fancy design or unusual, just the initial. I pick these up for about $5 or so. By the way it is/was a Seated dime, but there is no way to tell the mintmark anymore.
The back (reverse) looks like a P. But these can very very difficult to read. Especially when you have 3 letter intertwined. [Note: the 'front' or 'heads' is called the obverse]
It does look like a P. Have you seen any other of these with initials? What do the initials on the reverse indicate? Thanks again.
I collect love tokens. $5-15 is a fair price estimate on this. These tokens are typically found on dimes from 1870-1895. Half dimes and quarters are less common, pennies/nickels/half dollars/gold dollars are also known but relatively rare. Some foreign coins also crop up (Mexican & Canadian dimes are about as common as US quarters, while most others are on British or German small silver pieces). The initials on the back are typically the initials of the person who gave the love token to their sweetheart. These were literally tokens of affection. Back when these were common, only the big cities had jewelers and photos were relatively expensive. Think of love tokens as calling cards or high school rings - suitors would give one to their intended as a way of throwing their hat in the ring. There are many examples of bracelets from this time period in which proud debutantes would show off a dozen or so love tokens around their wrists (all with different initials). I can't make out much detail on the reverse of yours. Is it a single letter? If so, it may also be a mourning token (closely related, but those typically date a little bit later and often come in pairs). Early love tokens usually have letters arranged side-by-side, and later tokens tend to have the letters interwoven (which makes them much harder to read). Pictorial love tokens also exist and tend to trade at a premium (depending on the artistic skill & subject matter).
It seems to be a letter or letters, but if so then doesn't appear to be a P because it is not closed at the top of the letter. Almost an inverted small H. Could also be a lowercase I and lowercase T. Also, looking closer at the date it is 1851.
