jacks
Preserved but no longer current.
AND HALF-JACKS, card counters, resembling in size and appearance sovereigns and half-sovereigns, for which they are occasionally passed to simple persons. In large gambling establishments the "heaps of gold" are frequently composed of JACKS. JACKS are not, as they are sometimes supposed to be, counterfeit coins; they are simply little medals, and so "magsmen" and "street muggers" carry them with less concern than they would feel were their pockets loaded with spurious money.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “jacks” mean?
AND HALF-JACKS, card counters, resembling in size and appearance sovereigns and half-sovereigns, for which they are occasionally passed to simple persons. In large gambling establishments the "heaps of gold" are frequently composed of JACKS. JACKS are not, as they are sometimes supposed to be, counterfeit coins; they are simply little medals, and so "magsmen" and "street muggers" carry them with less concern than they would feel were their pockets loaded with spurious money.
Is “jacks” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.