Text Box: Re-engraved or altered coins are nothing new. Coins were re-engraved for kicks for centuries before anybody coined the word hobo. Altering coins to bear different images was a longstanding practice. A favorite American fad of the pre-Civil War days of the Nineteenth Century was carving "love tokens" out of coins. With a few careful chisels, etches, and engravings, lovers could romanticize their money by putting ornate, decorative designs with personal messages to give away to somebody they cared about. In Napoleonic France, civilians would often manipulate the image of the fiery French dictator whose image was engraved on the coins to create a unique caricature of Napoleon himself which were meant to make him look ridiculous. The piece featured here is from by own collection. A Victoria 1854 1/2 Penny altered to look like Victoria’s husband Prince Albert. I purchased this piece sometime in the mid to late 1990’s from a local Vancouver dealer. Text Box: Prince Albert (1819-1861) Albert, the younger son of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was born at Schloss Rosenau in 1819. He was educated in Brussels and Bonn and in 1839 visited his cousin, Queen Victoria in London. Victoria immediately fell in love with Albert and although he initially had doubts about the relationship, the couple were eventually married in February 1840. During the next eighteen years Queen Victoria gave birth to nine children. Throughout their marriage Prince Albert acted as Victoria's private secretary. His German background, worried some of the government ministers and Albert was therefore rarely consulted about political issues. After the death of her favorite politician, Lord Melbourne in 1848, Albert's political influence over Queen Victoria increased. Whereas Melbourne had advised Victoria not to think about social problems, Prince Albert invited Lord Ashley to Buckingham Palace to talk about what he had discovered about child labour in Britain. Albert took a keen interest in the arts and sciences and planned and managed the Great Exhibition in 1851. The profits of this successful venture enabled the building of the Royal Albert Hall and the museums in South Kensington. In 1857 Albert was given the title of Prince Consort. However, four years later he died of typhoid fever. The Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens, designed by Sir George Scott, was erected in his memory in 1871. Text Box: Altered Victoria / Albert 1854 1/2 Penny by Eugene Simms Text Box: This unique piece of coinage combines the fields of numismatics, folk art, and history.