What is the story behind this coin lighter?

fivecents · July 5, 2016 12:36PM

DCW · July 5, 2016 1:28PM

No idea, but I like it!

DCW · July 5, 2016 1:28PM

Makes me want to start smoking

WillieBoyd2 · July 5, 2016 1:30PM

If the coin is large enough one can light the world.

habaraca · July 5, 2016 1:57PM

you see a lot of that stuff on ebay under Trench art

lordmarcovan · July 5, 2016 4:59PM

I've seen some like this before (and some with small half-moon-shaped knife blades), but in this particular case it's not a real Napoleon III 5-franc coin. The portrait and lettering are "off", and it doesn't even look like silver.

So it's just a coin lookalike lighter.

Still pretty neat, though. The "trench art" aspect might not be too far off the mark, since this could conceivably be from the WW1 era. I don't know.

oih82w8 · July 5, 2016 7:17PM

I was thinking "Flea Market" product.

291fifth · July 5, 2016 8:26PM

I'm not sure that there is any story other than smoking being very popular in France during the last part of the 19th century.

MICHAELDIXON · July 5, 2016 9:12PM

I posted one on here many years ago, that I had bought to give as a Christmas gift. These, in my opinion, are very cool!

thebeav · July 5, 2016 9:16PM

Definitely vintage, I've had many of the same one over the years. Very often with corroded flints in them, which takes years. I always thought they were a turn of the century product, perhaps a little earlier.