1960s Billiken Good Luck Charm

The Billiken is a good-luck charm doll created by Florence Pretz, an art teacher and illustrator from Kansas City, Missouri. According to legend, Pretz was inspired by a mysterious figure she saw in a dream. The name "Billiken" is thought to have been derived from the 1896 poem Mr. Moon: A Song Of The Little People by Bliss Carman. In 1908, Pretz secured a design patent for the Billiken, which she then sold to the Billiken Company in Chicago.

The character is depicted as a monkey-like figure with pointed ears, a mischievous smile, and a tuft of hair on its head. Typically seated with outstretched legs and short arms, the Billiken is known as the "God of Things as They Ought to Be." Owning a Billiken was believed to bring good fortune, but receiving one as a gift was considered even luckier. The piece in question is from the 1960s, weighs 7.2 grams, and is marked "Plata," which is Spanish for silver.