Lot 201
Letty Platt / H.B' , hand engraved on a smoothed English 1797 Penny
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Notes:
- Convict love tokens have been romantically described as 'postcards before leaving' but they are really sad mementos of relationships torn asunder by the courts and the tyranny of distance. When Great Britain lost the Americas after the War of Independence its prisons quickly filled and it needed a new destination to receive its convicts who were temporarily housed in prison hulks (boats) on the Thames in London. In 1788 Australia was settled as a penal colony and convicts were transported to its shores, usually for 7 years, 14 years or life. There was little prospect of them ever returning to England once transported, and so prisoners took to engraving crude mementos (love tokens) which were left with the families they were forced to leave behind. Usually they are engraved on smoothed English 'Cartwheel' pennies and the more intricate engravings can be the work of a more skilled convict who would have a side-business making tokens for other convicts many of whom were illiterate. Condition:
- Very Fine
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