There are so many examples of people modifying coins that an entire field of study, Exonumia, has been named for it. Hobo nickels, love tokens, and counterstamped coins are just a few of the well known examples. The subject of this article is the Box dollar, typically a Trade dollar that has been modified by hollowing out a coin to create an open compartment and using another coin as a lid. A hinge was added that is countersunk to be concealed when closed. These box dollars are virtually undetectable on casual inspection and they open, sometimes with a spring, to the hidden compartment. They are often seen as blank compartments, sometimes seen with inscriptions, and less commonly seen with pictures. They are worth $200 - $500 depending on condition with inscribed ones being worth more than blank ones, and ones with portraits being worth the most.
Figure 1: A box dollar with a portrait inscribed GH Spuds 10-20. The picture is circa 1890s, Coin World, Jan 24, 2017, originally from Heritage Auctions.
Trade dollars were used in China to compete with the Mexican 8 Reale as they had the same amount of silver. This was different from the amount in a Seated or Morgan dollar, so they were not legal to use in trade in the US. As opium was one of the products the US traded with China, these box dollars have also been referred to as opium dollars as they had been thought to have been used to conceal the drug, which was legal to use for any purpose in the US until 1909. However, there seems to be little contemporaneous support for that theory.
Figure 2: Ad from Busiest House in America (BHA), Chicago, Lapp and Flershem p 256 (1896), advertised a Secret Locket made from a Trade dollar for $6, courtesy of Numismatic Bibliomania Society, archiving Discovery Sheds Light on Box and “Opium” Dollars, Carol Bastable, TAMS Journal March/April 2015.
The ad in Figure 2 from a US retailer, BHA, advertised a box dollar as a Secret Locket for $6. It is not known whether they manufactured them or not, but they were sold in a section with other sterling silver novelties. An 1893 issue of Donahoe’s Magazine, a Catholic oriented general interest magazine that published from 1878 to 1908, called it a “trade dollar locket” and “pretty thing to have around”, before referring to a portrait that could be concealed inside. No mention of opium concealment was made and it seems unlikely a Catholic oriented magazine would highlight the item if it were thought to be used for that purpose.
Figure 3: Excerpt from Donahoe’s Magazine, Vol. 29, no. 3. Boston: Donahoe's Magazine Company. 1893. p. 362.Max Mehl, a coin dealer in the early part of the 20th century, advertised one of these as US Trade Dollar Made Into Locket, for $3.50. He estimates it would cost $5 - $10 to make.
Figure 4: Excerpt from Max B. Mehl, Mehl’s Numismatic Monthly, Vol 10 p. 118 (1919).In conclusion, Trade dollar box dollars, were originally sold as secret lockets and were likely never used for opium concealment, an activity whether for personal use or trade was not even illegal at the time.
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