A coin pocket is a small pocket set into or just above the main front pocket of jeans and trousers. On five-pocket jeans it is the famous 'fifth pocket,' tucked inside the right front pocket. It began life in the nineteenth century as a watch pocket, sized to hold a pocket watch safely against the body; today it carries coins, keys, guitar picks, and other small essentials.
From Watch Pocket to Fifth Pocket
When jeans were workwear, a man's watch was a valuable tool kept on a chain — and it needed protection from the knocks of ranch and rail work. The small reinforced pocket at the waistband of the front pocket was the answer. As wristwatches took over in the twentieth century, the pocket stayed, renamed for the coins it now carried, and became a defining detail of five-pocket jeans.
Trouser makers adopted the idea too: a small coin pocket is often set into the waistband seam or inside the right front pocket of tailored trousers and chinos.
Recognizing and Using One
- On jeans, find it inside the right front pocket, usually riveted at the corners like its bigger neighbours.
- On trousers, look for a small extra opening along the waistband or inside the front pocket.
- It is sized for small flat items — coins, a key, a folded note, a ring — not a phone.
FAQs
- Why do jeans have a tiny pocket?
- It was designed in the 1800s to hold a pocket watch. The design survived as a coin pocket and as a signature detail of five-pocket jeans.
- Is the coin pocket always on the right side?
- Almost always — it sits in or above the right front pocket on jeans and most trousers, following the original watch-pocket placement.
- What is the fifth pocket on jeans?
- The coin (originally watch) pocket. Count them: two front, two back, and the small fifth pocket inside the right front.
Detailed Guides: see Coin Pocket in the glossary A–Z listing of the Apparel Search fashion glossary for related terms.