Convict love token 1792

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Type: Convict love tokens
Date: 1792
Materials: Metal - non specific
Collection: Convict Love Token collection no. 2
Accession number: 2007.0050.0001

Description

A convict love token made from a copper coin. Engraved on one face is 'MC / 1792' and on the other face 'When / On this Peice / you Cast an Eye / THiNK / ON THE MAN / THAT is NOT / NIGH'.

This love token is typical of tokens made by convicts from coins that they hammered flat and engraved with messages of affection and endurance. Convicts who were about to be transported to Australia gave the tokens as mementos to the loved ones they were leaving behind. Some tokens include the length of sentence, either seven or fourteen years, and popular phrases and rhymes of separation. Convict love tokens are one of the few examples of items made by convicts which have survived. The National Museum of Australia holds the world's largest collection of convict tokens, with 314 in its collection dating from 1762 to 1856.

About the collection

This collection consists of 4 Convict Love Tokens: one copper halfpenny engraved with MC/1792; one cartwheel penny engraved with squire with rifle and dog; one copper penny engraved with a sailor in front of a sailing ship; and one shaved down penny with 'L.B/L.W/1844'. Convict love tokens, typically made of smoothed down coins and engraved or stippled with a message, provide a poignant, personal insight into the transportation system, as well as its transnational character. Also known as 'leaden hearts', the tokens stem from traditional sailors' farewells. Convict tokens were made for the whole of the Transportation period in New South Wales and Tasmania, with the majority produced during the 1820s and 1830s. As objects purposely made by or for convicts to give as mementoes, to be left behind when the prisoner was transported, the tokens are a unique part of the record of a convict's transportation experience.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 4:58:31 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2026-08-10. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.