Encased Keychains/Fobs
Traditional Horseshoe shaped encased 1962 D, with hole at the top and a chain. It reads: "KEEP ME AND NEVER GO BROKE / I BRING GOOD LUCK"
Reverse reads: SOUVENIR OF WASHINGTOM,D.C.
Encased coins used as a keychain are not a new idea or unusual. Traditional encased coins were often holed as made and had a chain inserted. In looking at the Osborne Coin Company, work orders from 10/1948 thru 9/1957 646 were not holed out of 1958 work orders that I entered into a spreadsheet. This works out to roughly 33% that were NOT holed. Over 67% were holed and a quick look shows over 90% of these had a chain inserted. As shown above, the horseshoe was a favorite as a keychain. Encased keychains come in a variety of shapes, sizes, materials, and, the denomination of the encased coin. Below I explore some of the varieties.
Chicago keychain. The obverse reads: "LUCKY PENNY CHICAGO"
Reverse reads: "LUCKY PENNY CHICAGO"
Side view of the Chicago keychain/spinner.
The piece above is a spinner. The encased coin spins on it's north/south axis. It can be used to decide heads or tails by spinning as opposed to flipping a coin. Or you can spin the coin just for the fun of it!
Keychain encased come in a variety of shapes and materials. Here is a plastic horseshoe shaped encased cent with a chain. This is a molded plastic horseshoe.
Pale green plastic horseshoe - Obverse reads: "KEEP ME AND NEVER GO BROKE / ALL STATE / LUMBER CO. / 2939 S. Cicero St."
Reverse reads: "Complete Line / Of Building Materials / Garage And / Home Remodeling"
Encased bell - 1953 D cent - Obverse reads: "I BRING GOOD LUCK / KEEP ME AND NEVER GO BROKE"
Reverse reads: "BETSY ROSS HOUSE / PHILADELPHIA / PENNSYLVANIA"
A 1930 buffalo nickel in an oval steel holder with a short chain and an oval ring with a screw closure.
Reverse of the 1930 buffalo nickel keychain.
A 2005 D cent encased in acrylic is hung so that it spins. Obverse reads: "LUCKY PENNY / WASHINGTON D.C."
Reverse reads: "LUCKY PENNY / WASHINGTON D.C."
Side vide of DC Spinner
A keychain like the Chicago pice above is called a "spinner". In the example above the ring that surrounds the coin is steel with incuse legends. The encasement that holds the cent is .40 inches thick, which leads me to believe that there are two cents in the encasement. The cent(s) are in a .85 inch diameter ring, spinning free inside a 1.34 inch ring. The outer ring is .15 inches thick. The chain is a link style with a solid ring at the end. The entire chain is plated a gold color.
Here is a more traditional encased keychain.
Round encased with a 1968 D cent. Encasement is 1.4 inches in diameter. Obverse reads:"KEEP ME AND NEVER GO BROKE"
Reverse reads: "LAS VEGAS CLUB / HOME OF THE 49¢ BREAKFAST"
Traditionally, horseshoe style encased had chains attached. As I indicated earlier, of the Osborne Coin encased, 67% were holed and, probably 90% of those had chains inserted. Typically the chains used were the "ball chain" or "bead chain" style. Some of the bead chains were brass plated to match the encasement. They are typically nickel-plated steel, steel, or brass. On the encased shown here, there are also "chain link", "snake link" and solid chains. The piece below has a solid loop and a solid link connected to the encasement. There is a link between the solid loop and the solid "fake" chain. It should be noted, that a wide variety of chains have been used with encased coins. You could make a collection of encased coins based on the chain attached. That would make an interesting exhibit and fairly inexpensive.
Nickel plated "Bead Chain" example.
Half Lira "Repubblica Italiana"
Half Lira "Repubblica Italiana"
Reverse of Half Lira, reads: "L.500" at the top is the braile for L .500.
The use of encased coins as part of a keychain is extensive. I will be adding other examples to the site in the future. Some will contain encased coins of different denominations, and some will be different styles of chain or encasement.
Laminated Encased Keychains
Below are two laminated encased keychains. Here a cent, generally, was placed in a cardboard holder that had been printed with a motto or legend. Then they were laminted encasing the printed card and the coin.
Keychain through the laminated card. It reads: "WORLD BAR-B-Q CAPITAL / MEMPHIS / ©1989 Coins of America - Germantown, TN 38138". The card is 2.17 x 1.68 inches and thickness is .04 inches on a white background.
Rectuangular keychain with a dateless buffalo nickel. The piecs is 2.56 x 2.10 inches and .04 inches thick. It reads: "SKOKY MOUNTAINS / TENNESSEE / ©1988 Coins of America - Germantown, TN 38138-0916" on a blue background.
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