African Terracotta Bead Necklace Group

Each coin worn flat and bent into a double-curved 's' profile, for use as a token of love. 17.55 grams total, 18-20 mm



Found Tyne and Wear, UK. This lot is for UK buyers only, not for export.

The custom of giving a bent coin as a love-token is known from the 17th century in England. The coins were usually smoothed to obliterate the monarch’s head and then bent twice; sometimes they were engraved with initials or symbols such as hearts or knots. If the sweetheart accepted the youth's advances, she kept the token; if not, she disposed of it. The tradition is referred to in the children's rhyme 'There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile, and found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.'

Cloison with incuse figure of Mercury standing with caduceus and marsupium; set into a later gold ring; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 4.63 grams, 24.38 mm overall, 18.99 mm internal diameter (approximate size British R 1/2, USA 8 3/4, Europe 19.38, Japan 18)



Private collection, Europe. Acquired on the English art market.

Discoid in plan with low-relief scene of two lovers, bed and chamber-pot. 8.42 grams, 26 mm



Ex private UK collection. Property of a London, UK, antiquarian.