I am working on a California gold rush act. Some of it has to do with how people paid for things. No credit cards, checks or paper money. Gold dust is nice but not very practical.

I'm thinking about changing one thing for another - bartering. I know lots of magicians don't like change bags, but they look period.

Ideas?

I have a trick using the Buddha mystery to turn a bank note from back East into a Mexican coin. (People loved Mexican coins and hated bank notes. Just scraps of paper, not real money.)

And I use an adapted lethal tender trick to switch a Chinese coin with a silver dollar. (Silver dollars were very scarce until later.)