Antique Spanish Silver Isabell II Coin Button

[KevinM]

This is a silver coin button I got in a TS grab bag last week. I think it's been made into a button of some sort but I'm not sure.

On the inside of the coin button it says "ISABEL 2^ POR LA GRACIA DE DIOS Y LA CONST 1850" with on the outside an engraved letter "S" (perhaps for Spain) and a reeded edge. On the other side it has a 6 pointed star. The coin measures about 18mm in diameter and weighs about 2.76 grams.

Does anyone know what type of button this is and what article it may have been used to button or anything else?

Thanks!
Kevin

[Ipcress]

Probably something worthy of research.

The coin is a 2 reales. The six pointed star could be anything but was used by Florida during the Civil War.

I've seen buttons like this in the UK which had military or revolutionary significance but were also used as seals, sometimes to identify the person as a friendly ( like the Masons ).

Definitely something i'd investigate before deciding what to do with it !

The work that's gone into it isn't easy.

[mart]

That actually looks like a cuff link !!  Perhaps from a military uniform of some sort !!

[KevinM]

Thanks Ipcress and Mart. I was thinking it may be a 2 reales but wasn't sure. Mart, yes it could be a cuff link, I was thinking that but I'm not sure.

I've taken a few more pictures of the coin button or cuff link with the gamma turned up to get more detail.

It looks like on the inside of the button that has the smaller star back and there is more smaller 6 point stars and there is some design on it. Maybe it also might be a coin or token.

Does anyone know what the smaller star coin or token really is or where it may have been made or from?

Thanks!
Kevin

[Ipcress]

I can see what appears to be other six pointed stars on the interior of the smaller coin and i think it's this

http://www.your-rare-coin-collecting-guide.com/three-cent-silver.html

So you have someone who has put the two coins together from the 1850s and then engraved that intricate design on what was the reverse side or " tails " side of the 2 reales.

[mart]

It does look like the coin Ipcress linked to !! During the Civil War it was not unusual to find things like this !!  They used what they had available !!  Guess everyone did !!

[Rauville]

If you search under "Love coin / token / button" you may find something.
http://www.talquintradingco.com/storefront/product/-unusual-double-coin-love-token-button/506/index.html

[KevinM]

Ipcress, that's the coin, you found it, Thank you!    Mart, it could be a cuff button or link. Rauville, I think you may have narrowed down to what it is (Love Token Button), how appropriate in finding out what it may be since tomorrow is Valentines Day, thank you!

See below link for additional love token information / requirements and a listing on ebay with love token buttons with different letters.

http://lovetokensociety.com/history/love-tokens/

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=love%20tokens%20button&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc&_trksid=p2045573.m1684

Thanks everyone!

[mart]

Or due to its age,, a lapel button as in Victorian times !!

[fancypants]

During the 2nd World War , the Nazis were well known (esp. during the latter years of that war) for using silver coins for replacement buttons on uniforms for their troops (on occupied soils) .
Often they were soldered together by forced/slave/prisoner labor .

My father , who'd served in the 'European theater' with Patton , in the Armored Infantry , brought back several silver antique 1700's French coins that had been 'turned' into buttons ... he'd said that he had cut them off of a dead German soldiers' greatcoat .
He gave them to his Captain , who returned them to my dad .

Pop told me that it was at that point in time that he'd realized that the Axis countries were losing that war .

[KevinM]

Wow, thanks for the information fancypants! I'm going to have to pay more attention now to these old buttons I find or see in grab bags.

[KC]

This was a great topic!  Loved learning about those sites! 

Knew that coin buttons were used for women's top collar buttons in Victorian times and to make shawl buttons! 

[Jlsherf]

First let me say, Kevin you find the coolest things!  Second, I'm with KC!  I ha e learned something ndw!  I never heard of a love token before and am now thinking about all the buttons over the years I have gone through and if I may have seen one and passed over it.  This subject has taught me much!  I just love this forum!

[Ipcress]

Love tokens, like sweetheart brooches, are a growing market. There used to be numismatic valuers who dismissed such coins as having little value but they can fetch decent money these days. What once would have sold for £5-10 can now go for £150-200

[KevinM]

Thanks everyone, it was fun, this was an interesting topic, who would have knew about these tokens in modern times, not too many people. What made it more interesting was the cross-over research with buttons, coins, tokens, etc...

I was talking with someone recently about this token and they immediately mentioned "Hobo Coins". I asked what is a Hobo Coin? They said that they were engraved coins like the love tokens and that Buffalo Nickels were engraved by the hobo's who carved them during the early 1900's and later modern artist engraved other coins which were still called or considered by many as hobo coins by name.

The 1st link below mentions engraved coins from the 1850's to 1912 including the "potty coin" and the "love token" then from 1913 to modern times the "hobo nickel" starting with the first 1913 buffalo nickel.

The 2nd link below tell some more information about the hobo nickel.

http://www.hobonickels.org/alpert03.htm

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/us-coins/hobo-nickels