What is this small leather Item?

Asked by Jeruba (56106

) October 9th, 2021

It looks from the outside like a car key case, and I guess it could be used for that, but that’s clearly not its main or only purpose.

It’s soft black leather, stamped LEVENGER. Levenger offers a lot of small leather products, but I can’t spot one like this in its online catalog.

Dimensions, closed (folded over and snapped): 3.5” x 1.5” x about 3/8” thick

Dimensions, open (laid flat): 3.5” x 5.75”; max. thickness under 1/8” (2 thicknesses of leather)

Closing: one snap

Inside features: 3 rows of 3 (= 9) identical little pockets of a size to hold quarters snugly, or quarter-sized tokens (parking meter change? subway tokens? tollbooth change at rates from long, long ago?)

End feature: attached 1 1/8” key ring positioned so that a key could hang out or be tucked inside

Overall look: leather feels nice, worn but intact; brass-colored snap looks well worn and somewhat corroded, as if this were not a recent purchase and had seen a lot of wear

This turned up in a yard-sale-grab-bag-type setting, with no way to check back or trace it.

I volunteered to come up with an identification, and so far I’ve struck out. So, resourceful, witty, and widely knowledgeable Flutherfolk, what is it?

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9 Answers

I’m a photographer, so I am thinking SD card holder?
Like something like this?

rebbel (35553

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^^Great guess. If the SD cards fit I’d say that has to be it.

Some other ideas: pill holder, ring holder (although 9 rings and a key ring would be an odd combination). None of my ideas sound practical though. Change and tokens also sound problematic. Can’t the items fall out too easily?

JLeslie (65789

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Sounds like a coin or token holder to me.

janbb (63257

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I remember a friend’s dad had one like that, his initials in gold on it. It held car keys (back in the days where there was a separate key for the trunk) and he put coins in for parking meters.

canidmajor (21640

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It sounds very similar to Dad’s key holder. It was leather with the two ends that folded over and had a snap to close. There were multiple clips though for several keys (3–4), and no inner side pockets. He liked it because the keys could be flipped inside of the leather case and then tucked into his pocket. This would have been in the mid-70s or before. Perhaps this is an updated version.

Pied_Pfeffer (28144

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@Pied_Pfeffer I remember leather cases that had hooks (not sure what to call them) that were for keys and flipped over like you describe.

JLeslie (65789

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