Modern Coin Magic. J. B. Bobo

do the regular palm and, once done, the right hand can aid the disappearance by making passes toward the left hand.

      THE ILLUSIVE COIN PASS

      T. J. CRAWFORD in Greater Magic

      This sleight was given the above title by John Northern Hilliard when he was preparing for T. Nelson Downs that magical classic, The Art of Magic, as the coin pass had been submitted to him without a name.

      The pass is not one automatically acquired immediately after reading the instructions, but performers who have mastered it have found the effort to perfect it time well spent. It enables the performer to completely vanish a coin from the hand in which it was unmistakably placed. The spectator actually sees the coin lying in the palm of the left hand, yet when the hand is opened, the coin has apparently melted away. Nor is it limited to one coin. Several coins may be vanished singly.

      The Method: The coins are picked up from the table, a coin rack, or from the palm of a spectator’s extended hand. With the sleeves up and the hands empty, the performer takes one coin between the thumb and index finger of the right hand, holding the coin as near the edge as possible. This scanty grip on the edge is important, as all the surface of the coin possible should be exposed and well polished coins should be used. Much of the effect is psychological and these details are helpful.

      What actually happens is this: the coin is really placed in the palm of the left hand and, for a brief interval, the spectators see it lying there, but it is never released from the grip of the thumb and finger on its extreme edge. Strange as it may seem, this fact does not dawn on the spectator. To his eye the coin has either melted away or gone into a mysterious pocket in the palm of the left hand.

      The timing at this stage is the vital element. The instant the coin is shown openly in the left palm, Fig. 1, the fingers of that hand begin to close over it, and when they have closed to the point of screening the coin from view, the middle, third and little fingers of the right hand are extended full length under the curved fingers of the left, Fig. 2. The three right hand fingers form a screen for the coin as the right hand moves away with it. Without this screen, there would be a ruinous flash of the bright coin, which is still held in its original position by the thumb and index finger, Fig. 3.

      As the left hand is slowly closed and extended, and the eyes of the assembly are focused on that point, the fingers of the right hand are pushing the coin to a center palm. A momentary pause allows the situation to be absorbed, then follows the deliberate process of opening the left hand, showing back and front, with fingers wide apart. The coin is gone. And likewise, several coins are vanished one after the other.

      The stack of coins in the left hand can be produced in a fan and showered into a glass after both hands have been shown empty by the change over palm, or transferred to the fork-of-thumb palm (See The Downs Palm, page 25), and after both palms have been seen empty, reproduced from the air one at a time.

      As a vanish for a single coin, this is one of the best, and is only equaled by a similar vanish by that modern master of subtlety, Dai Vernon, which is simply titled A Coin Vanish.

      A COIN VANISH

      Reprinted from Greater Magic

      Hold the coin between the extreme tips of the right thumb and first finger, allowing as much as possible of it to be visible. Place it on the palm of the left hand as shown in Fig. 1. Slowly close the left fingers, keeping them touching one another and extended, the bend being made at the lowest joints, so that they come to touch the back of the middle joints of the right hand, as in Fig. 2.

      The instant this position is arrived at, and not till then, extend the right second and third fingers over the coin, the movement being masked by the curved fingers of the left hand, Fig. 3.

      With the left finger tips still touching the middle joints of the right fingers, move the right wrist forward, the left finger tips and the middle joints of the right fingers acting as a hinge, Fig. 4. The coin itself should now lie flat on the tips of the right second and third fingers which are curved slightly toward the palm.

      Now move the right hand forward a little to the position shown in Fig. 5 and complete the closing of the left fingers on the palm. From this position relax the right hand and let it drop slowly to the side, but on no account make any movement of the right fingers by palming the coin at this moment. In the meantime, move the left hand slowly upwards and make the motions of rubbing the coin away, finally opening it and showing it empty.

      While your whole attention is focused on this action of the left hand, press the coin into the right palm and bring the right hand up, pointing with the forefinger to the empty left hand.

      I cannot recommend too strongly that the student follow the instructions given, for there is nothing in the entire realm of coin sleights so deceptive. The whole action is based on the optical illusion known as the persistence of vision.

      THE PINCH VANISH

      Hold a small coin, such as a quarter or a nickel, vertically and by its edges between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, thumb being on top. Hold the left hand with the fingers pointing downward and palm toward the audience. Place the coin directly in front of the left palm, Fig. 1, then slowly close the fingers over it. When the coin is completely covered by the left fingers the forefinger and thumb of the right hand snap together, the edge of the coin against the forefinger sliding off in this action so coin turns to a horizontal position. The coin is withdrawn from the left fist clipped by its forward edge, Fig. 2, by the pressed-together right thumb and forefinger. To the spectators it appears that the coin remains in the left hand. Try this in front of a mirror to get the full effect of this deceptive illusion. Bring the two middle fingers up against the lower side of the coin and quickly press it into the right palm under cover of raising the right hand and immediately snapping the fingers.

      Work the left fingers as if crumbling the coin away, then open them slowly to show the coin gone.

      GONE

      BILL SIMON

      Here is a clever coin vanish which has a lot of possibilities. It is one you will enjoy doing, because it depends on misdirection rather than skill for its accomplishment.

      Show a half dollar in your open left hand. Close the fingers on it and turn the hand back uppermost. The left fingers then make a rubbing motion as if they were crumbling the coin away. Nothing actually happens,