“Don’t accept any wooden nickels” is a colloquial expression meaning “Don’t get tricked” or “Don’t let yourself get fooled.”
Wooden nickels were a popular advertising medium and sometimes used to commemorate an event of local or regional importance. Some vendors would even release wooden nickels with a redeem-by date after which the “nickel” would have no value. “Don’t accept any wooden nickels” implies that wooden nickels are worth less than their stated value of a “nickel” (five cents) and should not be accepted as such when one is due that amount in payment or change. Few, if any, wooden nickels look like an actual coin, so a serious attempt to con someone out of money using a wooden nickel would depend heavily on the credulity of the mark.
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