Love Token - William Maskell, England, Great Britain, 1818
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1818
Love Token from William Maskell to his sister dated 1818. Love tokens were often commissioned by convicts before they were transported to Australia, as a memento for their loved ones. Itinerant engravers visited the prisons and hulks, finding a ready market for these tokens, which were made to order from smoothed-down coins.
Love tokens are evidence of the British Government's attitude to law and order and treatment of indentured labourers in a strict Government 'Assignment System' which provided cheap labour for the expanding British empire during the 1700s and 1800s. About one third of migrants who came to Australia between 1830 and 1850 paid their own way. Convicts and settlers who came to Australia found that in comparison to Europe, conditions were very good and with hard work and determination they could prosper.
A love token engraved on the reverse of a 1797 British penny (36 mm). The obverse features a laureate bust of the King facing right; around incuse on broad rim, GEORGIVS III D.G. REX. The reverse of the penny been removed and engraved, above a heart pierced by two arrows, Dear Sister / May love and / Friendship / Never be forgot / William Maskell; the heart divides the date 1818. The edge is plain.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 2
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Edge
- The edge is plain
- Shape
- Round
- Material
- Copper
- Dimensions
- 36 mm (Outside Diameter)
Technical characteristics
- Die axis
- 9
- Date issued
- 1818 AD
Design
- Obverse
- A laureate bust of the King facing right; around incuse on broad rim, GEORGIVS III D.G. REX.
- Reverse
- The reverse of the penny been removed and engraved, above a heart pierced by two arrows, Dear Sister / May love and / Friendship / Never be forgot / William Maskell; the heart divides the date 1818
- Inscription
- GEORGIVS III D.G. REX Dear Sister May love and Friendship Never be forgot William Maskell 1818
Identification
- Candidate id
- mv-1391812
- Museum object number
- NU 47363
- Source note
- Facts transcribed from the linked single-object source. Wider type attribution and authenticity have not been independently verified.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type and source attribution against specialist references.