"Three-Cent Chicken": Pictorial love token on 1851 silver three-cent piece

"Three-Cent Chicken": Pictorial love token on 1851 silver three-cent piece



Larger obverse image
Larger reverse image

Host coin: 1851 silver three-cent piece.
Obverse: original six-pointed star design, unaltered.
Reverse: planed off and re-engraved with image of a chicken (probably a rooster) left, with grass/foliage below, surrounded by simple lined border.

Ex-"palmislandcoinsandcurrency" (eBay), 07/09/2016.

This is a relatively simple but quite well-executed pictorial love token. It was desirable enough in that right, but since it is also on a slightly less common host coin I found it all the more desirable. As the silver three-cent piece or "trime" was the United States' smallest silver coin, they had to be a bit more difficult for engraving artists to work on. The artist here did a good job and obviously had some experience. Additionally, the 1851 date on the host coin was the first year for this type.

Though now sold, this was once part of my "Oddball Set" of exonumia.