A trade-dollar locket, also known as a box dollar or an opium dollar, is a type of

locket A locket is a pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item such as a lock of hair. Lockets are usually given to loved ones on holidays such as Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Sai ...

created from two coins, typically

trade dollar Trade dollars are silver coins minted as trade coins by various countries to facilitate trade with China and the Orient. They all approximated in weight and fineness to the Spanish dollar, which had set the standard for a de facto common currency ...

s, that were hinged together to form a hidden compartment. As trade dollars circulated in Asia in the late 19th century, the lockets were popularly thought to be used to carry

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy '' Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which ...

concealed in the secret compartment. An image could also be placed in the compartment of the coin making it a traditional locket.

History

The United States minted trade dollars between 1873 and 1878 to facilitate trade with East Asia. Trade-dollar lockets were made by hinging together two such coins to form a compartment, which could be opened by pressing on the lid or edge. As the trade dollars circulated in East Asia, including China, trade-dollar lockets were thought to be used to conceal a small quantity of

, but an 1896 advertisement marketing one as a "secret locket" suggests that it was not intended for use in drug trafficking. Experts are not sure if the coins were ever used to conceal opium, but the coins were widely used in trade between the United States and Orient which is where the majority of opium came from. An 1893 issue of ''

Donahoe's Magazine ''Donahoe's Magazine'' was a United-States-based Catholic-oriented general interest magazine that ran from about 1878 to July 1908, when it was absorbed by the '' Catholic World'' of New York. It had been founded by Patrick Donahoe, one-time edi ...

'' described their locket as "a pretty thing to have around" to hide a "dear face which no one else can discover". In 1896, an illustrated catalogue titled ''Busiest House in America'' advertised a six-dollar "secret locket" made from trade dollars.

Function

When closed the coin appeared to be an ordinary trade dollar. The lockets could also be used traditionally, to conceal an image. An 1896 publication which purports to be one manufacturer of the trade dollar locket suggests that the coin was not used to conceal opium. Coin dealer

B. Max Mehl Benjamin Maximillian Mehl (November 5, 1884 – September 28, 1957), usually known as B. Max Mehl, was an American dealer in coins, selling them for over half a century. The most prominent dealer in the United States, through much of the first ...

suggested in his monthly periodical in 1919 that a locket could be "skillfully made" out of two coins for five to ten dollars.

References

{{Portal bar, Money, Numismatics, United States Coins 19th-century fashion 20th-century fashion