Class 7 — Engraved coins
Numismatic items that have been converted to jewelry, amulets, or decorative objects. Examples are love tokens, hobo nickels, and “pop-out” coins.
E# #c Title and Theme/Purpose
4 5 Penny Potpourri
Items made out of or using pennies. Approximately 100 pieces of various penny exonumia, including teapots, encasements, elongates, pushouts, spoons, charms, fobs, trench art, prison art, etc. Mostly U.S., but some British, Canadian, and Australian.
6 4 Engraved Coins of the Ba’al Shem Tov Amulet
This exhibit displays and translates a well-known amulet to protect newborns and their mothers, attributed to the Ba’al Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism. It includes many coins engraved with designs and inscriptions found on the amulet, some based on this amulet and some based on other amulets that used the same inscriptions, or just based on the inscription itself. These coins contain many Hebrew names of God and angels, and demonstrate all the major ways traditional Jewish amulet preparers manipulated texts into names of power.
52 1 Introduction to Love Tokens
The exhibit outlines the wide diversity of (mostly) 19th century love tokens.