Hi there, Found this coin in a collection that was passed on. I’m unsure if this was an error and someone has made some kind of inscription I can’t quite make out. Or, is PMD for someone to make the inscription. Anyone able to offer any advice. At the very least is interesting.
I'm not sure what it says, but it appears to be a rudimentary Love Token. https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-victorians-fell-in-love-with-pocket-change/
I agree with the others, crude love token. The 10 centesimi coin was the largest copper coin they made that year in Italy. On the obverse was King Umberto I
Yes, definitely PMD, but don't know whether it was an amateur love token attempt or something someone did during the war, since the 1915 & 1917 dates can be seen.
It appears to have the dates 1915 and 1917, so there is a possibility that it could be an example of WWI "Trench Art" as @Bill in Burl said. If you can decipher the inscription and link it to a soldier, field unit, or something WW1 related, it may be more collectable than a regular love token. I believe @lordmarcovan had posted some trench art coins in the past
Yes, this indeed appears to be a WW1 trench art piece, though also categorizing it as a love token is not incorrect, since most trench art pieces were made as handmade keepsakes to be given as souvenirs to sweethearts and loved ones. These kind of trench art coins can thus be considered a subset of the love token category. This is one rare situation where post-mint “damage” is not bad news. This piece, while still not highly valuable in the monetary sense, is worth more as a piece of trench art- as a historical relic- than the common 10-centesimi host coin would have been worth numismatically, were it undamaged. If the inscription can be linked to an individual, the value increases, at least in terms of collectibility and historical appeal, if not especially so in the monetary sense (this is a relatively narrow niche). I like it. The handwork is only average at best (the artistic merit of trench art varies widely) but it has a certain crude charm. PS- Some recent issues with the site disastrously wrecked the image attachments in most of my archived threads on the topic (including the two most important ones), but here’s one that still has a working photo attachment as of this post: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/so...h-art-on-1904-belgian-10-centime-coin.293084/
