Funny money

Ballou’s Dollar Monthly, March 16, 1862. I reckon some watchmaker or other skilled machinist must have made these, either for fun or as a premium to give to customers, and then someone accidentally put them into circulation. Either that or it’s the work of an early and unsung conceptual artist. Anyway, you can acquire a starter kit for your own set of nesting coins here.

The only good performance artist–

American Register, January 1, 1817. Turns out the entire concept was efficiently exhausted nearly two centuries ago by this anonymous Italian sailor.

Stand in the place where you are

New York Herald Tribune, September 11, 1904. The shrewd thing to do today would be to spraypaint this guy silver, put a hat at his feet, and drop by three times a day to collect your earnings.

Razzmatazz from Jazz Merazz

San Francisco Chronicle, November 10, 1916. Truer words were never typeset. “Jazz Merazz,” you long-dead proto-beatnik wiseass, I love you.
This won’t be the last item I poach from The People’s Safety Valve, but I don’t expect to surpass it.