Leaden Hearts
These delicate etched coins are, in fact, handmade love tokens (“leaden hearts”) made by English convicts being transported to Australia. Whether these artifacts were actually given to a beloved or stashed somewhere to be found by a stranger, being deported for the life of a convict didn’t provide much hope for a reunion. Remembrance was the goal. According to the National Museum of Australia Canberry,
“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.”
(Source: teenangster.net)
