Now there are 2 main steps in my mind. But the first is a bit of a mystery. How do they completely and evenly remove all details from one side of a coin and still have it look basically like natural wear? Then there's the matter of engraving. How was that done so eloquently back in the day?
Does any of this help? http://lovetokensociety.com/history/love-tokens/ http://lovetokensociety.com/history/early-roots/ http://www.coinweek.com/featured-news/interesting-coins-love-tokens/