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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lordmarcovan, post: 2955678, member: 10461&quot;]These were done by hand.&nbsp; It&#039;s largely a lost art.&nbsp; Yes, there are still some extremely skilled engravers out there today - and some of them make exceptional &quot;hobo&quot; carvings on coins - but that kind of hand crafsmanship is mostly a thing of the past.</p><p><br /></p><p>Having a Trade dollar for the host coin is cool, too.&nbsp; Check the edge and rims carefully for hidden seams, to see if it&#039;s maybe a <a href="https://libertycoinservice.com/product/1878-s-trade-dollar-box-dollar-fine-details/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://libertycoinservice.com/product/1878-s-trade-dollar-box-dollar-fine-details/" rel="nofollow">box dollar</a>.&nbsp; That would add to the value considerably.&nbsp; A lot of Trade dollars got the &quot;box dollar&quot; treatment and were made into lockets and such.&nbsp; These are also sometimes referred to as &quot;<a href="https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/737566/are-original-opium-dollars-made-from-1877-trade-dollars-worth-anything" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/737566/are-original-opium-dollars-made-from-1877-trade-dollars-worth-anything" rel="nofollow">opium dollars</a>&quot; by collectors, for the hidden compartment inside them, though their supposed use for smuggling opium is probably more an apocryphal &quot;urban legend&quot; than fact.&nbsp; Most were lockets, and the &quot;opium&quot; legend got attached to pieces which had lost the original photographs they once contained.</p><p><br /></p><p>Check out the <a href="https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/949145/a-bavarian-box-thaler" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/949145/a-bavarian-box-thaler" rel="nofollow">1625 Bavarian &quot;box thaler&quot;</a> that a friend of mine found.&nbsp; That was a really cool bonus discovery![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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