"I loved that old Esquire ad about a cigarette lighter with coins embedded in Lucite. Yes, I am sure it has really "held its value." Embedding things in Lucite seemed to be all the rage those days. I have a letter holder from the 1960's that has a general selection of period US coins embedded into it. A few months ago I also picked up a booklet from the 1960's that gave detailed instructions on how to create a decorative piece with anything embedded in Lucite, an interesting piece of ephemera for sure."

"I have two lighters with coins embedded in Lucite. One has a 1962 proof set embedded in the Lucite. The second one has random coins; a 1964 Quarter, 1964 nickel, and a 1953 dime. I also had a lighter similar to the one in the ad, however, it met an untimely end when it fell to the floor and shattered."

"I have other Lucite items that might be of more interest to the E-Sylum audience. There are several that have no mate and several pairs. These are all hand made. A layer of acrylic is poured into what is usually a cardboard mold and the coins are placed by hand into the acrylic, a layer at a time. Each layer has to set partially before the next is placed.

None of these are proof sets. The single wedge-shaped bookend has 1973 uncirculated cents."