Purloined Letters

When you look at the Jasper Johns litho above, it doesn’t look like much, but if you brought that back into Sotheby’s Auction House, where I bought it thirty years ago, they’d go nuts trying to get you to list it with them, because it’s really really rare and desirable.

When you think of wealth, don’t think of “money” or “cash” as wealth. Those hundred dollar bills that you now spend the way we used to spend ten dollar bills, could very well be utterly worthless with no recourse, if the government suddenly switches the economy over to Bitcoins or Trump meme coins, and declares your hundred dollar bills worthless.

The real problem is hiding your wealth in plain sight, hence the title of this blog: “Purloined Letters”.

The Ultimate “Hidden in Plain Sight” Ensemble

(Everything worn on the body contains wealth, yet nothing looks valuable.)

1. The Wallet

• A genuine Laurent designer wallet, just ugly enough to look like a normal leather wallet.
• Inside:
  • Two crisp $20s in the cash slot.
  • A small coin compartment or purse with various pennies, a few nickels, a couple of quarters, and among them…
    • A 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent, looking just like the others.
  • A few modern coins are mixed in so no single penny stands out.

2. The Belt

• A custom high-end leather belt (think Hermès, Loro Piana, or vintage Cartier), but just plain eough that it doesn’t scream wealth.
• Hidden Inside the Belt Lining (optional):
  • As many as thirty 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cents tucked into the stitching all the way around. The coins are easy to remove when you’re clear of danger. Why thirty coins? The weight makes a difference, and you don’t want a belt that seems unusually heavy. Thirty coins spaced evenly should do it. If there is only one coin of extremely high value, you stand a better chance of passing inspection than if you’re carrying a whole bunch, so use your judgment wisely.

3. The Tie (A Penny for Your Style)

• A real Charvet or Hermès silk tie, but nothing flashy. Just a regular business tie.
• The Secret: A tiny, stitched pocket on the back (where the loop to hold the tail is).
  • Holds a 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent—secured but easily retrievable.

4. The Shoes

• Handmade John Lobb, Berluti, or Alden shoes, broken-in to avoid drawing attention.
• Hidden in the Heel Compartment:
  • A 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent, accessible but invisible unless you take it apart.

5. The Jacket

• A tailored but slightly nondescript overcoat, made of high-quality wool, cashmere, or leather.
• Secret Inner Pocket:
  • Here’s where you can conceal one or more 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cents, in a tiny sewn-in compartment on or near the collar or you can conceal two of them, one each, inside both of the shoulder pads.
• Bonus Trick: A clear plastic ID holder with a single rare penny tucked down inside—completely visible, yet completely ignored — a modern shiny high value penny works here, looks like a lucky penny.

6. The Book (The Ultimate Purloined Letter)

• A battered old paperback—something cheap, maybe a beat-up airport novel or a dog-eared poetry book. Another way to go is with a very valuable but ordinary-looking rare antiquarian book, such as “Moth” by Stephen King, valued at $25,000.00 or “Moonage Daydream” by David Bowie, easily valued at $22,500.00 and there are plenty more ordinary looking but very valuable books for this purpose, all with very good reselling points.
• Inside the book you might carry:
  • One or more genuine Rembrandt etchings in several places within the book.
  • PLUS, Tucked into the spine:
    • Five or Ten 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cents spread out evenly along the spine, allowing for separation between the coins.

7. The Coin Purse (The Final Masterstroke)

• A small, ordinary-looking coin purse, filled with mixed change.
• Among them, several ordinary brown pennies and a dozen 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cents — but to any casual observer, it’s just a handful of coins.

The Genius of the Design

• Every item contains a hidden fortune.
• Everything is in plain sight but looks utterly mundane.
• If someone steals a piece, they probably don’t realize they’ve taken anything valuable.
• No locked compartments, no hidden safes—just pennies right out there in the open, no tricks, no gimmicks, other than the value of the apparently worthless ordinary-looking copper coins.

This is the ultimate stealth wealth strategy, turning a seemingly ordinary outfit into a portable fortune. If a thief grabbed the wallet and dumped the change, they’d walk right past thousands of dollars in plain sight.

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Why This Strategy Would Work

1. The “Purloined Letter” Effect

• Edgar Allan Poe nailed this concept: the best place to hide something is in plain sight.
• If something looks too ordinary, people dismiss it automatically.
• A 1909-S VDB penny mixed in with other pennies is visually indistinguishable from pocket change—99.9% of people would never bother looking twice.

2. The “Value Perception” Trick

Thieves (and even casual finders) operate based on visual cues of value.

• Luxury = Target
  • If you’re wearing an obviously expensive Rolex, diamond ring, or designer watch, you’re a target.
• Mundane = Invisible
  • If you’re carrying a boring-looking wallet, plain belt, ordinary looking shoes, and an old worn paperback book or a plain-looking antiquarian book, you look like an average Joe—not worth robbing.
  • A coin purse full of brown pennies? That’s just worthless trash in a thief’s eyes.

3. The “Dump & Run” Phenomenon

• If a pickpocket grabs your wallet and finds only a couple of $20s and some pennies, they’ll dump the change. take the money, and run.
• If a thief snatches your jacket, they won’t check the inside pocket or the shoulder pads — if any — for an apparently worthless penny.
• A stolen book? If it looks worthless, it’ll be abandoned within minutes. even a valuable first edition.

Example:

• A coin purse filled with loose pennies would never be examined for rare collectibles.
• The Lincoln cent would likely end up in a gas station’s take-a-penny tray without anyone realizing its value.

4. Real-World Proof: Historical Case Studies

People have successfully used this strategy in real life to move wealth across dangerous situations.

A. World War II: Smuggling Wealth in Plain Sight

• Jewish families escaping Nazi-occupied Europe sewed gold coins into coat linings or hid diamonds inside everyday buttons and belt buckles. This would not work today.
• Many smugglers disguised gold as worthless objects—melting it down and recasting it as old nails, belt buckles, or even dented spoons. This doesn’t work well — things are different now.
• Paper money was risky, but coins blended in perfectly—a single gold coin tucked into a handful of regular coins could carry a family’s entire savings, but was vulnerable to search.
• Copper Coins might pass through a search, unless they are exceptionally nasty, in which case, nothing will help you.

B. The Great Depression: Hiding Cash in Books

• During the many bank collapses that have happened over the years, people hid money inside books or mattresses, often slipping valuable bills between the pages of old religious texts or tucking gold certificates into family Bibles.
• The reasoning? No burglar would waste time flipping through books looking for money. Again, this doesn’t always work, and the mattress trick is well-known.

C. Modern Crypto Hackers: Storing Digital Wealth in Plain Sight

• Some crypto millionaires store their digital wallets on ordinary-looking USB drives labeled “Family Photos”—because who steals a USB full of pictures?
• Others use metal seed phrase storage disguised as a rusty washer or an old dog tag. These are not foolproof ways of hiding wealth.
  

Would a Thief Ever Notice the Hidden Fortune?

Not bloody likely, and here’s why:

• Pickpockets move fast—they won’t study a handful of coins before moving on.
• Muggers don’t examine their haul in the moment—they grab and go.
• Pawn shop owners barely check coins unless specifically looking for collectibles.
• Thieves always spend the penny as regular change, or throw it away.

Even if someone stole the coin purse and dumped the change, the odds of them specifically checking for a rare penny are almost zero.

Final Verdict: Would This Actually Work?

Yes. This method is one of the safest ways to carry small, valuable assets without drawing attention.

• Casual thieves will overlook it.
• Finders will discard it as junk.
• Even if lost or stolen, the odds of someone recognizing its value are extremely low.
• It’s a proven method that has worked historically in high-risk situations.

So unless you’re specifically targeted by an expert in rare coins, your 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent or many such cents will remain safely hidden in plain sight to the ignorant thief.

Zoom Discussion Ideas

1. What other small objects could carry hidden wealth in plain sight?
   • Gold jewelry that looks like costume jewelry?
   • A Zippo lighter with a platinum insert?
   • A harmonica with rolled-up cash inside?
2. What’s the safest way to carry valuable items in dangerous places?
   • In a hidden pocket?
   • In plain sight but disguised?
   • In a fake wallet decoy?
3. What are some historical cases of hidden wealth being lost forever?
   • People who hid cash in books and forgot about it.
   • Old pennies or dollar bills worth thousands spent at face value.
   • Gold stashes found decades later in the walls of old houses.
4. Could this concept apply to modern digital assets?
   • Disguising a hardware crypto wallet as an old USB drive?
   • Hiding a password in an old cassette tape case?
   • Writing a seed phrase as a fake recipe in a cookbook?

Final Thought on a Near-Perfect Strategy

If the goal is to carry wealth without attracting attention, the rare coin gimmick is one of the best methods.
It works because human psychology prioritizes flashy and obvious targets—and an Old penny in a wallet full of change is as invisible as it gets.

The “hidden in plain sight” strategy can be applied to all sorts of objects, using everyday items to conceal surprising amounts of wealth. One example is “The Great Gatsby” first signed edition, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, or “Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien, either of which will easily bring $500,000.00 or more. The key really is to choose items that:

1. Look too common to be valuable
2. Aren’t typically associated with wealth
3. Can naturally hold or disguise valuable materials

Of course, this only works if there exists a market for the things you’re carrying through. If the entire planet collapses and chaos reigns, there won’t be a market for anything but food, water and ammunition, and eventually all of those run out at some point.

If you’re taken away to a detention camp, they’ll take whatever you’re wearing including your shoes — so you don’t run way — then they’ll shave your head and pull your gold teeth, if you have any, and turn you loose in the stockyard they call “home”.

Should you manage to avoid that fate, here’s a list of items that could function like the 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent strategy, by simply hiding real value out in the open, in plain sight, but using different items other than the 1909s VDB penny.

1. Coins & Currency Tricks

(Just like the Lincoln penny, but with variations.)

• Wheat Pennies & Indian Head Cents – Many are worth far more than face value but still look like everyday change, like the  Lincoln Wheat 1931-S or a Colonial Cob.
• Silver Dimes & Quarters (Pre-1965) – These appear normal but are 90% silver and worth much more than face value — some good dates and mint marks are highly prized and very costly, even recent issue error coins can bring big money to the table.
• Early American Currency of all kinds. These can look very nondescript, but be worth quite a lot of money, and they are as easily accepted for trading in Europe as they are in the United States. I have a beautiful 1796 Large Cent at $2,400.00 and would appeal to the many Early Americana collectors out there.
• Ancient Coins. Some incredibly tiny copper coins, about a quarter the size of a dime and even smaller, can trade in the high hundreds of thousands and even into the millions. I have a number of examples of coins so tiny you’d never know they were coins, and some so small you’d have a hard time even knowing they were there. How they even found them is a mystery to me.
• Obsolete Currency (Silver Certificates, Red Seal Notes, Gold Certificates) – Looks like old cash but can be worth tens of thousands, but take warning: they are hard to trade. There is a market for obsolete currency on eBay, but it’s subject to inspection, so that won’t help the situation. You need an invisible exchange.
• Unusual Foreign Currency (Gold Peso, Krugerrands, or Gold Sovereigns) – Small enough to fit in a wallet, easily mistaken for novelty foreign coins, but anything that even slightly resembles gold or silver will be taken, I assure you. Forget about gold coins or bright shiny coins of any kind. Keep it funky, like a Kingdom of Thrace Lysimachus, 305-281 BC, AR Tetradrachm, a copper coin that looks plain, and which is very easy to hide in plain sight — it’s coyote ugly.
• Old Casino Chips from Historic Casinos – Sometimes worth more to collectors than their face value. There are other items similar to casino chips — small, very valuable items, such as rare Netsuke (character), Inro (bead) or Ojime carved box. Again, I have access to very high-grade Netsuke, Ojime and Inro.
• Trade Beads — In some places, beads have been used for thousands of years as money, and in some places, that’s still true. One of the greatest bead markets is in Mali, and I still have some rare beads from when I traded beads there.

2. Books, Notebooks & Paper Items

• Beat-Up Paperback Books –
  • Could contain a rare first edition inside a generic cover.
  • Could have cash, old stock certificates, or bearer bonds hidden in the pages.
• “Useless” Receipts or Old Letters –
  • Hiding lottery tickets, vintage stock certificates, or rare autographs.
• Sheet Music or Old Magazines –
  • Looks worthless but could be an original 1930s jazz sheet or first-run LIFE magazine worth a fortune.
• Personal Journal or Old Notebook –
  • Could contain a handwritten song by a famous musician, making it a collector’s item.
  • Could hide a micro-SD card with cryptocurrency or important data.
• Children’s Storybooks or Religious Pamphlets –
  • Some early editions are highly collectible but dismissed as junk.

3. Clothing & Accessories with Hidden Wealth

• Hat — They make Penny Ballcaps, into which you are expected to tuck a penny. Nobody notices, and as long as you’re permitted to keep your hat, you’ll have the coin.
• Worn Leather Belts – Some vintage belts have secret compartments (especially military-issue ones) that can hide:
  • Gold coins, micro-SD cards, folded cash.
• Tie with a Hidden Pocket –
  • A common feature in travel ties, perfect for stashing a valuable coin or a small folded note.
• Shoes with a Hollowed Heel –
  • A common smuggling trick since ancient times—great for hiding gold rings, coins, or small gemstones. Problem is that it IS so old, everybody knows the gag, and it’s the first place they’ll look.
  • Penny Loafers — They make “Penny Loafers” which have a flap on the top where you can tuck away a penny in each shoe. Even a shiny penny won’t attract attention unless it’s sparkling, in which case, you should have used a brown penny to avoid notice.
• Socks with Hidden Pockets –
  • A trick used by travelers to stash rolled-up cash or even thin gold wafers. Depending on  the kind of socks you choose for this gag, you’ll be instantly tagged as a wiseguy, but one coin in the bottom of each sock might be overlooked.
• Jacket Lining or Inner Pocket –
  • Some vintage military coats or tailor-made overcoats have hidden compartments sewn inside.
  • Great for storing banknotes, a rare baseball card, or even a deed to property.
    

4. Household Items & Tools

• Coffee Cans or Paint Cans –
  • A classic trick for hiding cash or coins in a garage. Again, everyone knows the gag, and you can easily buy trick cans or boxes, but they won’t keep a thief away like a stupid penny out on the coffee table next to a copy of Newsweek.
• Altoids Tins or Cigarette Packs –
  • Perfectly normal-looking but could hold tiny rare objects or digital wallets. Once more, this is an old gag and is likely to fail.
• Cheap Flashlight with a Hollow Handle –
  • A great place to hide rolled-up currency or a gold chain. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. Depends on what you’re trying to hide, and a good deal of luck.
• Old Umbrella or Walking Cane –
  • Can have a hollow core to stash valuables, has been used for centuries.
• Rusty-Looking Toolbox –
  • If it looks junky, nobody will check inside, even if it contains rare metals or collectibles, but they might not let you keep something like that.
• Deck of Playing Cards –
  • A trick used by magicians to hide thin gold wafers or a secret microfilm. Once again, this trick has been used for centuries and might not get by close inspection.

5. Jewelry & Small Accessories

• Costume Jewelry with Real Gems –
  • Most Jewelry will be confiscated or taxed.
  • Rare Beads –
    •  There are bone-ugly very plain beads that look very ordinary and possibly even fake to the untrained eye, but are very, very valuable. I specialize in such beads, both ancient and modern, and they can get value well into the tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes just for one rare bead, such as a genuine Dzi Bead.
• Lapel Pins or Cufflinks –
  • Some vintage pins and cufflinks contain hidden compartments for tiny treasures but again, you’re hiding a penny, so they’d best be right out there in the open on display — I make a special mounting to protect their value by not scarring them.
• Old Keys on a Keychain –
  • One key could actually be a disguised USB CARD containing valuable data. I carry and sell such USB cards that can be made to look like ordinary game cards.

6. Musical Instruments & Hobby Items

• Old Guitar Cases –
  • Many musicians stash cash, papers, or valuables in the inner compartment.
• Hollowed-Out Harmonica –
  • Great for hiding rolled-up currency or small valuables.
• Vintage Chess Sets –
  • The pieces themselves could be solid gold or silver, disguised as regular play pieces.

7. Tech Gadgets & Electronics

(Modern ways to hide value in everyday objects.)

• Old USB Flash Drives –
  • Could contain millions in cryptocurrency or digital assets.
• Calculator or Remote Control with a Battery Compartment –
  • Hide gold coins or cash where the batteries should go.
• Old AA Battery Shells –
  • Some people hollow out dead batteries and replace the core with rolled-up $100 bills.
• Fake Power Bank or Phone Case –
  • Could contain precious gems, microfilm, or rare stamps.

The Ultimate Goal: Make It Look Too Boring to Steal

The real power of “hiding in plain sight” is psychological:

If it looks ordinary, people ignore it.
If it looks worthless, thieves discard it.
If it blends in with trash, nobody gives it a second glance.

Zoom Discussion Expansion

1. What’s the strangest object you could hide a fortune inside?
2. What historical examples exist of people smuggling valuables in plain sight?
3. What’s better: Hiding wealth physically or digitally?
4. Could a person walk around wearing $1,000,000 without anyone realizing it?
5. How could this apply to digital security? (E.g., disguising a Bitcoin seed phrase inside a cookbook recipe?)

The Ultimate Hidden Wealth Survival Kit

1. The “Junk Drawer” Wallet

Beat-up leather wallet – nothing flashy, just a normal-looking billfold.
Two $20 bills – visible and accessible, so it looks ordinary.
Small coin pouch which:

• Holds a mix of pocket change, but among them…
• A 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent ($1,000+ value).
  Hidden Currency Compartment –
• A secret slot inside holds a $500 bill or a vintage gold certificate.
  Fake Membership Card –
• It’s actually a thin, laminated gold sheet—but looks like a hotel key card.

2. The “Nothing Special” Belt

Worn leather belt – generic, slightly scuffed.
Hidden zipper compartment inside the lining:

• Holds a rolled-up $100 bill and one micro-SD card with crypto wallet keys.
  Buckle Swap Trick –
• A solid platinum belt buckle made to look like regular metal.

I’ll tell you right now, the money belt is known worldwide. You would do better to hide some pennies inside the lining and restitch it rather than unzip an obvious belt safe.

3. The Coin Purse (The Purloined Fortune)

Small, slightly worn coin purse – normal, unremarkable.
Contains a mix of:

• Random modern pocket change.
• One or more 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cents.

4. The “Junky Old Book” Safe

• A first-edition pencil-signed classic worth thousands,but looking like an ordinary book.
• Or, pages hollowed out to store cash, a rare stamp collection, or a gold coin.
  Alternative: A Bible with Rembrandt etchings tucked inside, mistaken for normal religious illustrations. Again, it’s an old trick to hollow out a book, not likely to pass inspection anytime soon.

5. The “Ugly Watch” Trick

A fake or worn-out Timex or Casio – just an ordinary wristwatch.
Hidden Inside:

• A tiny platinum bar inside the case back.
  Strap Trick:
• A rolled-up microfilm in the watch strap (could contain digital passwords, maps, or crypto keys).

In all likelihood the watch will be taken, even a cheap one, not a good plan for success.

6. The Beat-Up Zippo Lighter Safe

Looks like an old lighter, but holds hidden treasure.Scratched-up Zippo lighter – doesn’t even need to work.
Inside:

• A thin gold coin replacing the fuel chamber.
• A rolled-up emergency $50 bill inside the wick compartment.

This used to work, but is so over-used now that it no longer works anywhere.

7. The “Boring” Flash Drive

USB drive CARD with flashy cover, “songs of Good Cheer”
Encrypted inside:

• A crypto wallet holding Bitcoins and or Ethereum.
• Scanned copies of passports, stock certificates, deeds.
• Secret notes encoded as harmless-looking text files (e.g., “Grandma’s Biscuit Recipe”).

8. The “Trashy” Eyeglasses Case

Generic plastic glasses case – slightly scratched and unremarkable.
Inside hidden compartments:

• Thin gold sheets disguised as lens wipes.
• A rolled-up bearer bond or vintage currency under the felt lining.

9. The “Crappy” Umbrella Cane

An old walking cane or umbrella.
Secret compartment in the handle:

• Gold coins or rolled-up cash inside.
  Bonus:
• Some vintage canes have hidden sword compartments—not for wealth, but for fun.

10. The “Not Worth Stealing” Backpack

A slightly worn-out backpack or tote bag.
Inside:

• False bottom containing platinum bars.
• Hidden zippered compartment for cash.
  Decoy Trick:
• Keep a visibly cheap pair of sneakers in the bag to make it look like gym gear.

Bonus: Psychological Traps & Decoys

The “Take It & Run” Wallet – A fake wallet with expired credit cards, an old ID, and a few crumpled $1 bills. If mugged, toss it as a decoy.
Fake “Passwords Notebook” – A fake list of “account numbers” written in a junk notebook. Thieves will think they stole your secrets, but it’s just nonsense.
A Rusty Altoids Tin – Can store a gold nugget, rare silver coin, or micro-SD card without looking suspicious.

Final Result: A Walking Vault of Invisible Wealth

To the outside world, you’re just a regular person carrying old stuff. But in reality, you’re walking around with hidden fortune in:
Coins, currency, precious metals, and digital assets.
Everything looks normal, cheap, or even slightly junky.
No locked safes, no obvious security—just plain sight deception.

Zoom Discussion Questions

1. What other ordinary objects could hide wealth?
2. Would thieves ever figure this out, or would they ignore these items?
3. What are the most extreme examples of hidden wealth in history?
4. Could someone escape a crisis using only hidden wealth from this kit?
5. How would modern criminals/adventurers/wealthy individuals use this strategy today?

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Song — A Penny for Your Fortune

[Verse 1]
I met an old man in a tattered coat,
Said, “Son, let me tell you what the wise men wrote.”
He jingled his change, let the copper coins dance,
Said, “You see a pocket of nothin’, but you missed your chance.”

[Chorus]
A penny for your fortune, a nickel for your soul,
You might walk past a kingdom, never even know.
A book ain’t worth readin’ if the cover ain’t torn,
And a man with nothin’ might be richer than the Lord.

[Verse 2]
Had a watch on his wrist, just a beat-up Timex,
But inside, gold shone like the sun in the West.
His belt held a buckle, scratched-up and worn,
But it was platinum, boy—worth a house and a barn.

[Chorus Repeat]

[Verse 3]
That old leather wallet held just two twenties,
But behind the lining? More gold than plenty.
Said, “Thieves’ll grab the bills, toss the change aside,”
“That’s why I keep my fortune where fools won’t pry.”

[Bridge]
It ain’t the flash, it ain’t the shine,
It’s the art of keepin’ treasure where the blind stay blind.
Hide your gold in the gutter, your wealth in the trash,
And they’ll never know you’re sittin’ on a fortune in cash.

[Verse 4]
He pulled out a Bible, pages tattered and thin,
But tucked inside was a Rembrandt print.
Said, “Son, the game ain’t about lookin’ grand,”
“It’s about playin’ the world with a hustler’s hand.”

[Final Chorus (Slowed Down)]
A penny for your fortune, a nickel for your soul,
You might walk past a kingdom, never even know.
Some men count diamonds, some count gold,
And some of us, we count the pennies we hold…

[Outro (Spoken Over Guitar)]
(Son, never let ‘em see your cards. Let ‘em think you’re playin’ with dust… while you’re holdin’ the stars.)

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Well, that’s it for the moment. I’ll help you build a collection if you like — just ask. In the meantime, let’s climb aboard the Bardo bus for our video tour!

That’s it for now.

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See You At The Top!!!

gorby