The human connection to coins had great importance to earlier generations for whom coins held great value beyond their denomination. Coins with intrinsic metal value, particularly silver coins, became associated with romantic tradition, as giving them away represented an act of real sacrifice for the one you love.
In England, love tokens were commonly formed from silver coins that were bent with the hands – an act that was also used as a sign of sealing a vow. These misshapen coins are known to the collecting world as ‘benders’ and, while the origin of the nickname is unknown, it’s highly plausible that it could well have been the result of this quirky ritual. Over the years, a variety of denominations was used, but the nickname came to be primarily associated with the sixpence, which often took the starring role in this feat of strength, due to its relative pliability.
Forever entwined with romance in England, the sixpence is also the coin most closely associated with weddings and is the denomination of choice in the ‘something old, something new’ tradition.
