Trade dollar locket
# Trade dollar locket

A Trade dollar locket is a type of coin locket also known as an opium dollar or a box dollar. To create one locket two coins modified to create a single United States Trade dollar locket with a hidden compartment.

The locket was made from modifying two trade dollars. It was occasionally referred to as an opium dollar because opium could be concealed in the hidden compartment. An image could also be placed inside the coin.

## Background

Trade dollars were issued by the United States government between 1873 and 1878. Occasionally people modified two coins to manufacture one opium dollar which had a hidden compartment. The lid of the coin was held to the lower half by a hinge and the compartment was revealed when one pushed a spot on the back of the coin. It was occasionally referred to as an opium dollar because it could conceal a small amount of opium inside the coin.

When closed the coin appeared to be an ordinary Trade dollar. An 1896 publication which purports to be one manufacturer of the trade dollar locket suggests that the coin was not used to conceal opium.

## History

The coins could also used to hide an image. In 1893 Donahoe's Magazine stated that a person could keep a "dear face" hidden in the "trade dollar locket" and nobody else could discover it. In 1896 the Busiest House in America advertised a "secret locket" which they sold for six US dollars. In 1919 coin dealer B. Max Mehl who published Mehl's Numismatic Monthly stated that a US Trade dollar could be "skillfully made" out of two coins for five to ten US dollars.

There are many examples of these "box dollars" which were created by modifying trade dollars. 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.

