Any Magicians here? Do you use coins in your act?

braddick

Curious if any coin collectors here also perform magic using coins either professionally or just for fun.
If so, what are some of your favorite coins (parlor) tricks?

TwoSides2aCoin

Have a few tricks up my sleeve with cards. Always enjoyed magician's secrets. Especially keeping them.
Don't remember too many with coins. There were some over the years, but it was the deck at hand that was most fun "tricking" people with.

TopographicOceans

Coin Magic Tricks

Dentuck

About 15 years ago I bought part of the inventory of an old magician-supply shop that
had gone out of business. I got two boxes of dramatically oversized "stage" coins that were
used to perform legerdemain. They were large enough for people in the back to see, whereas
a normal-sized coin would have been too small.

ScarsdaleCoin

Yes I was a professional magician and member of IBM and SAM when I was younger, did over 1,000 shows and was rated in NY as
"best children's performer" had the pleasure to be mentored by some of the greatest performers including Blackstone JR and Doug Henning who was my favorite
and worked in CT at a magic factory which got me interested in trick coins, machined coins and collecting MT's Magicians Tokens... today I have probably one of the largest collections of Magicians Tokens in the country dating back into the 1800's

Favorite coin trick would probably be one called Scotch and Soda

Scotch and Soda is a magic effect involving a copper coin and a silver coin which appear to transpose in the spectator's hands. The trick is named after the cucktail Scotch and soda; the copper coin represents the "Scotch" and the silver coin represents the "soda".

The effect is usually performed as follows: The magician displays two coins of almost equal size, one copper and one silver. The silver coin is most often a U.S. half dollar and the copper coin is usually either an English penny or a Mexican centavo. The magician stacks the coins and places them into the spectator's hand. He then asks her to place her hands behind her back and put one coin in each hand, remarking that the silver coin is slightly larger than the copper coin, making them easy to tell apart. The magician asks to see the silver coin which the spectator produces. When the spectator opens her other hand, the copper coin has become a quarter. The copper coin can then be made to appear wherever the magician desires, such as in the spectator's pocket or under an object across the room.

Scotch and Soda is a popular trick that can be purchased at many magic stores. A number of books exclusively on the subject describe different effects that can be achieved with the Scotch and Soda gimmick. Gin and tonic is a version of the trick using a dime and a penny.

The modern version that uses a 20 Centavo and a Kennedy half is often attributed to Richard Himber. In the early 1900s, America's oldest magic company, Martinka made a version that utilized a Barber half dollar and a large cent.

BryceM

I can turn a whole pile of money into a single coin........

LotsoLuck

That is pretty cool Scarsdale.

Cameonut

<< <i>I can turn a whole pile of money into a single coin........ >>



So can my wife

coin4sale

There is a young ( teenage) magician that stops in our shop once or twice a year looking for silver dollar slicks. He uses these ag, fair and poor coins with just plain wear on them for slight of hand tricks. He says the slick worn surfaces and corresponding lack of rim helps him with his maneuvers.

ricko

I have not seen the 'scotch and soda' coin trick.... used to go to the Magic Castle in CA when I lived there and enjoyed the 'table' magic performed for the diners...Cheers, RickO

DrPete

My brother, Steve, is a magician, in his spare time when not at his engineer job. I used to "loan" him 40% silver half dollars for his tricks. Came to find out that when he was broke he would spend them. I wasn't happy about that, but it wasn't very many of them. He liked to go up to people and ask them if they worked in retail, then proceed to "pull" a coin out of their ear and tell them that they have a "cash-ear.' He was really good at his magic and it was a great way to meet the pretty girls. Everyone seems to like magic and it's a real ice-breaker. Let's just say I was a little jealous of that...

I also gave my brother some big old English pennies and didn't worry about him spending them. He can roll coins over his palms and back of his hand and all sorts of interesting things. Hew still does shows for birthday parties and gatherings.

djdilliodon

I have a pretty neat coin trick. Send me any coin slabbed worth $1,000 or more and I will make it disappear! Haven't figured out how to make it reappear but I'm working on that