Mixed Artefact 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.'

Openwork fronds to the shoulders, rectangular plaque with raised border, incuse skull motif over two long bones crossed, script capital 'B'. 7.9 grams, 24.6 mm overall, 21.29 mm internal diameter (approximate size British U 1/2, USA 10 1/4, Europe 23.15, Japan 22)



Ex East Sussex private collection, 1970s-1980s.

Intaglio votive scene with female figure kneeling before a flaming altar; upper right, three lines of enigmatic inscription; supplied with a museum-quality impression. 2.07 grams, 20 mm



Acquired on the European art market. Private collection, England.