The carp scale in the wallet

No early record

We found no early written record of keeping a carp scale for money, and no date for when the custom began.

From the Christmas Eve table

Carp is a traditional Christmas Eve dish in Central Europe, including Czechia, Slovakia and Poland. According to the Czech tourist board, carp reached Czech Christmas tables only in the 19th century. Czech custom is to put one or two of its scales in a wallet, in the belief that there will then be money in it right through the year. In Czechia and Slovakia the scales are seen as a sign of wealth and are also placed under the plate. One explanation offered for the custom is the coin-like shape of the scales.

To verify: Whether families in Poland also keep carp scales in a wallet: we could not open a Polish source to check; A Czech or Slovak ethnographic source for the custom, with a date for when it began

A keepsake, not a promise

The scale is a free keepsake from a family meal. We tell it as a Christmas Eve custom of Czechia and Slovakia, and make no promise about money. A drawn or metal scale is our own design, not the real thing.