Why you should never give an empty wallet, and what to put inside

If you give someone a wallet this Christmas, there is a good chance a relative will ask the same question when it is unwrapped: did you put something in it? Across much of Europe and Asia, an old custom says a wallet should never be given empty. An empty wallet, the belief goes, invites an empty year. A coin inside invites money to follow.

Nobody can say for sure where the custom started, and you do not have to believe it to enjoy it. It turns a practical gift into a small ritual, and the thing you put inside is often what the recipient remembers longest.

The classic: one coin

The traditional answer is a single coin. Not a handful, which starts to look like payment. One coin, ideally a shiny one. A few ways to make it personal:

• A coin from their birth year, or from the year you met.
• A foreign coin from a trip you took together, which doubles as a memory.
• A euro coin from the country they come from, since the national side is different in every euro country.
• A commemorative coin, which many central banks issue every year.

In the Riva Wallet it goes in the zippered coin pocket, the one place in a slim wallet where a coin stays put. It is also a neat way to show them the pocket exists.

Other things worth tucking inside

A handwritten note. Fold it to card size and slip it into the cash fold. A few lines will be read again every time they open the wallet for weeks.

A small banknote. A five or a ten works as the lucky coin in note form. Keep it small, or it becomes the real gift.

A photo. A wallet-size print in a card slot is old fashioned in the best way.

A voucher you made yourself. One dinner, one weekend away, one car wash. Card-sized, in the card slot.

A tracker card. The practical version of good luck, for anyone who loses their wallet. It is the size of a bank card, so it sits in a slot like any other card.

What not to put inside

Large amounts of cash, which shift the attention from the gift to the money. Gift cards with the balance written on them. Anything sharp. And the packaging inserts: the paper stuffing and silica sachets that come with many new wallets should come out before you wrap it.

How to wrap a leather wallet

• Keep the box. If the wallet came in its own box, wrap the box rather than the wallet. It protects the shape.
• Never tape the leather. Adhesive can lift the finish. Use tissue paper and tape only the paper.
• Keep it away from heat. Not under the tree next to a radiator for three weeks. Leather dries out and stiffens.
• Do not overfill it. A wallet packed with heavy cards for weeks starts to stretch before it is ever used. One coin and one note are fine.

The moment after unwrapping

A new wallet only becomes theirs once the cards move across, and that is the step where gifted wallets quietly fail. Offer to do the switch together on the day. Pick the six to eight cards they really use, leave the rest at home, and throw out the old receipts. Our list of what to keep in your wallet makes it quick. The old wallet goes in a drawer, the coin stays in the new one, and the year starts with something in it.

Still choosing the wallet itself? Start with the wallet gift guide, and check the Christmas order timeline so it arrives in time.