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Message:: [QUOTE="Texas John, post: 1126090, member: 25813"]Large cents were demonitized before the Civil War, and were available by the keg for basically their scrap value. Some Confederate sympathizers, mostly in the Midwest, began cutting the image of Liberty from the old cents, attaching a pin, and wearing it on their lapels as a self-identifier. Thus sympathizers across the North began to be called "copperheads", a term still well-known enough for FDR to tar Charles Lindbergh with it prior to America's entry into World War II. Trade dollars were also demonitized, and available for their melt value  at the beginning of the 20th Century. Craftsmen would buy them, cut them in half, hollow  them out, and sell them as stash boxes for opium or other things best left hidden. During the 1950s, U2 pilots flying secret missions over the USSR were issued silver dollars that were fitted with a hidden needle dipped in curare, so the pilot could commit suicide to avoid capture. Francis Gary Powers had one, and thought about using it after being shot down over Russia. In the end he decided against it. A tradition in England that many in America still practice is for a bride-to-be to stick a sixpence in her shoe during the wedding, supposedly to guarantee the couple prosperity during their marriage.[/QUOTE]