That 1932 seeing-eye/shamrock/swastika/Star of David coin I told you about a couple of weeks ago wasn’t the only intriguing item we found among my mother-in-law‘s possessions. I also came across this even older coin commemorating Chicago’s Haymarket Massacre, a token I would not want a curious TSA agent to find mixed in with my change as I went through security.

Oh, the front of the coin, which was apparently struck in 1887 on the one-year anniversary of the event, seems innocent enough.

The reverse, on the other hand, might raise a few eyebrows.

As you can see, there’s an image of an exploding bomb—or is that Earth itself blowing up?—along with the words “ANARCHIST BOMB EXPLODED MAY 4, 86.”

A fascinating piece of history. But there are times and places it doesn’t pay to attempt to give someone a history lesson.

The only info I can find online about the coin is at the Chicago Historical Society, which doesn’t really tell me any more about its creation than I can figure out from the thing itself. It even states that “The circumstances behind the design and manufacture of this commemorative token in the Chicago Historical Society’s collection are unknown.”

If anyone out there has additional information, please let me know. Meanwhile, it goes up on my shelf next to a key that was bent for me by Uri Geller.