Wallet Lost in Ocean 39 Years Ago

The Boston Globe reported on this amazing story of a guy who lost his wallet in the ocean 39 years ago in 1966. The wallet had slipped out of his back pocket while he was trying to secure his boat. The leather wallet held cash, credit cards, and three $100 dollar checks that had yet to be cashed.

The guy had long given up on the wallet. Then this June a commercial fisherman working 12 miles off the coast found a plastic credit card holder along with 10 credit cards that was caught in his fishing net. The leather billfold, cash and checks had probably disintegrated in the ocean, but the plastic held up.

The fisherman was able to read the name, and after a little investigation, he was able to find the owner and return the cards. The owner was shocked not only by the find but also by the helpfulness of the good samaritan.

Handy Gadget for Your Wallet

For those who might have trouble with small print, this credit card magnifying glass gadget might be a handy wallet accessory. The Wallet Owl has a rectangular magnifying glass in the shape and size of a credit card. Also, it has a light so it can be used in the dark.

I saw it advertised on TV. It looks like you can get 2 for $10. However, the shipping and handling cost is $7 and it says the second free one requires separate S&H. So I would assume the price for two would be $24 ($10 plus $14 for 2 S&H charges). If it's only the size of a credit card, why is S&H so expensive? I don't like it when sellers hide the total price in the S&H. It makes comparison shopping harder.

I did a search on ebay and found 20 Wallet Owls for sale with buy-it-now prices as low as $2.99 (plus $7 for shipping).

National Treasure and a 100 Dollar Bill

Do you ever carry 100 dollar bills in your wallet? I never get denominations higher than 20 dollar bills. The main reason is that it can be difficult to use it. Many places won't accept denominations over a $20. Although I suppose that can depend on where you shop.

The movie National Treasure with Nicolas Cage was filled with interesting factual and historical tidbits. One tidbit had to do with the 100 dollar bill. In the movie, Cage's character determined that the back of a 100 dollar bill was a clue for the time of day that they needed to find some special spectacles. The time was from the hands of the clock on the tower of Independence Hall. The movie indicated that the time was 2:22. However, the $100 bill actually shows the clock hands to be 4:10 according to this one site.

I haven't been able to find a good zoomed in image of the back of the 100 dollar bill showing the clock. And I don't have any 100 dollar bills to inpsect. Perhaps I'll get one just to prove to myself that the clock hands are set to 4:10.

I've found some general info on the 100 dollar bill at Wikipedia. Also, it's interesting to see how the 100 dollar bill has changed through the years. You can see all the old designs at the Currency Gallery site.

Discount Coach Wallet

Unlike Louis Vuitton, Coach is an American classic. It began as a family-run workshop in a Manhattan loft in the mid 1900's. However, Coach's classic image was getting a little stale. This article goes into details about how a new Creative Director for Coach was trying to change its image from old leather bags to a maker of hip fashion accessories.

Coach's image has definitely improved. Their wallets in particular are in demand. Their catalog of men's wallets shows a wide variety of styles (all of which have a fairly high MSRP). Some of the varieties include a $148 English bridle double billfold wallet, a $108 water buffalo double billfold wallet, and a $78 English bridle money clip card case wallet.

When there's demand and high prices, there's going to be counterfeits out there. Coach has recently made an effort against counterfeits in China. It's trying to crack down before it launches its own stores in China.

As for the US, this article claims that the counterfeit marketplace is now the online auction sites. In one example, the upscale jeweler Tiffany and Co. filed a lawsuit charging that eBay is facilitating and participating in the sales of products that violate their trademarks. Tiffany conducted their own research into eBay. In one case they purchased 186 pieces of jewelry sold as a genuine Tiffany product. They found that only 5 percent of the items were in fact, genuine.

So if you want discount Coach wallets, should you consider eBay? I've done a little investigation into some of the Coach wallet auctions. Here are some of them. All claim to be authentic.

• New Coach Wallet - Men's English Bridle Billfold Bifold. Sold after 17 bids for $44 (link)
• Men's Coach Black Wallet. Sold after 4 bids for $19.49 (link)
• Men's Coach Pebbled Leather Tri-fold wallet. Sold after 4 bids for $30 (link)
• Coach Black Pebbled Leather TriFold Wallet. Starting bid of $22.99. No bids were placed (link)

It's interesting to see the differences in the number of bids and in the prices between these auctions. The styles could be one issue. I noticed the seller that received 17 bids and sold the English Bridle Bifold for $44 had a very strong feedback history with no negatives. On the other hand, the seller of the Pebbled TriFold Wallet that didn't receive a bid, had a pretty good feedback history except for a few negatives. There were two comments in the negative feedback that were interesting: In the first, it said: "Coach wristlet not authentic.... However, was able to return with no problems". The seller countered this with "I appeciate your opinion but you fashioned no proof. My sources disagree.". The second negative feedback said "good wallet - but PLASTIC inside? Uncharacteristic for a coach product".

It should be noted that the majority of all the buyers who gave comments seemed pleased with the products they received. But there's no way to know if what they received were authentic products.

Bank Robber Leaves Wallet At Counter

Here's another story of a stupid criminal. The good thing about stupid criminals is that they make it easy for the police to find them. That's what happened in this Mississippi bank robbery where a guy handed the teller a note from his wallet demanding money. Then he left his wallet with his ID on the counter in front of the teller. Police arrested the guy at his mother's home.

Louis Vuitton Wallets

If you want a fashionable wallet, a Louis Vuitton Wallet is for you. The Louis Vuitton company has a long history. Its founder, Louis Vuitton started manufacturing trunks in Paris in 1854. The company is now a leader in luxury consumer goods.

The only problem with a company like this is that its products are prime targets for counterfeiting. I just read about this LV counterfeit incident in the Tampa area.

If you want to buy a LV wallet, should you buy it on ebay? This site has lots of details about identifying Louis Vuitton fakes.

Ebay sure has a bunch of LV wallets listed. Can't say if any are real or not. Here's an auction of a LV Men's wallet that sold for $52.59 with free shipping. It had 19 bids. Here's an auction of a LV checkbook wallet that sold for $32.01 with 12 bids. Here's an auction that is still going on. Current bid is $45 for a LV wallet. The only problem is that the shipping is $19.99. If you think that's bad how about this one which has a buy-it-now price of $6.99 for a LV mens Wallet but has a shipping cost of $55. The seller is claiming to be doing this intentionally so both the buyer and seller can avoid ebay fees. So far it has no bids. I'm not sure if this is good sign for trustworthiness. If you want authentic Louis Vuitton wallets, this may not be the best place.