Skip to main content

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware this website contains images, voices and names of people who have died.

Convict love tokens

These love tokens are 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.

Source

National Museum of Australia

Copy rights image