Summary
Love Token inscribed Grace Tuidley, 1781. The token has been holed for use as a button.
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.
Physical Description
A 1/2 penny of George II engraved on the reverse with edge indented and holed for use as a button
Obverse Description
Worn - top of King's head can be seen
Reverse Description
Engraved - Grace / Tuidley / 1781
Edge Description
tooled
More Information
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation from Mr Robert Edwards - Museum of Victoria, 24 May 1989
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Date Issued
1781 AD
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Issued By
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Place & Date Inscribed
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Material
Copper
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Classification
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Dimensions
27 mm (Outside Diameter)
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Shape
Scalloped
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Keywords
Convicts, Families, Immigrant Voyages, Immigration, Love Tokens, Settlement, Travel