There is an immense variety of tricks with coin—some with apparatus, some without; some demanding a thorough mastery of sleight-of-hand; some so simple as to be within the compass of the merest tyro. The only classification which we shall attempt will be to divide them into such as do and such as do not require special apparatus.

A Florin being spun upon the Table, to tell blindfold whether it falls head or tail upwards.—You borrow a florin, and spin it, or invite some other person to spin it, on the table (which must be without a cloth). You allow it to spin itself out, and immediately announce, without seeing it, whether it has fallen head or tail upwards. This may be repeated any number of times with the same result, though you may be blindfolded, and placed at the further end of the apartment.

The secret lies in the use of a florin of your own, on one face of which (say on the “tail” side) you have cut at the extreme edge a little notch, thereby causing a minute point or tooth of metal to project from that side of the coin. If a coin so prepared be spun on the table, and should chance to go down with the notched side upwards, it will run down like an ordinary coin, with a long continuous “whirr,” the sound growing fainter and fainter till it finally ceases; but if it should run down with the notched side downwards, the friction of the point against the table will reduce this final whirr to half its ordinary length, and the coin will finally go down with a sort of “flop.” The difference of sound is not sufficiently marked to attract the notice of the spectators, but is perfectly distinguishable by an attentive ear. If, therefore, you have notched the coin on the “tail” side, and it runs down slowly, you will cry “tail;” if quickly, “head.”

If you professedly use a borrowed florin, you must adroitly change it for your own, under pretence of showing how to spin it, or the like.

You should not allow your audience to imagine that you are guided by the sound of the coin, as, if once they have the clue, they will easily learn to distinguish the two sounds. They are not, however, likely to discover the secret of the notch, and if any one professes to have found out the trick, you may, by again substituting an unprepared florin, safely challenge him to perform it.

Odd or Even, or the Mysterious Addition.—This is a trick of almost childish simplicity, depending upon an elementary arithmetical principle. We have, however, known it to occasion great perplexity, even to more than ordinarily acute persons.

You take a handful of coins or counters, and invite another person to do the same, and to ascertain privately whether the number he has taken is odd or even. You request the company to observe that you have not asked him a single question, but that you are able, notwithstanding, to divine and counteract his most secret intentions, and that you will in proof of this, yourself take a number of coins, and add them to those he has taken, when, if his number was odd, the total shall be even; if his number was even, the total shall be odd. Requesting him to drop the coins he holds into a hat, held on high by one of the company, you drop in a certain number on your own account. He is now asked whether his number was odd or even; and, the coins being counted, the total number proves to be, as you stated, exactly the reverse. The experiment is tried again and again, with different numbers, but the result is the same.

The secret lies in the simple arithmetical fact, that if you add an odd number to an even number the result will be odd; if you add an odd number to an odd number the result will be even. You have only to take care, therefore, that the number you yourself add, whether large or small, shall always be odd.

To change a Florin into a Penny, back again, and then to pass the same invisibly into the pocket of the owner.—This is a trick of genuine sleight-of-hand, and will test your expertness in two or three different passes. Having beforehand palmed a penny in your right hand, you borrow from one of the company a florin (or half-crown), requesting the owner to mark it in such manner that he may be able to identify it. Make him stand up facing you, your own right side and his left being towards the audience. Taking the marked florin between the fingers and thumb of the right hand (the back of which, from your position, will be toward the spectators), you ask him whether he is nervous, whether he can hold fast, and so on. On receiving satisfactory replies, you state that you are about to put him to the test, and request him to hold out his right hand, telling him that you are about to count three, and that at the word “three” you will drop the florin into his hand, which he is to close tightly upon it. You accordingly count, “One! two! three!” each time making a motion as of dropping the florin into his hand, and at the word “three” actually do drop it, when he closes his hand upon it, as directed; but you are not satisfied. “That won’t do, my dear sir,” you exclaim; “you are not half quick enough—you allow all the electric fluid to escape. We’ll try once more, and pray be a little quicker in your movements. Oblige me with the coin again. Now, then, are you ready?—One! two!! THREE!!!” giving the words with great energy. As you say “three” you stamp your foot, and apparently again drop the florin, but really drop the penny instead, by Change 3. He is sure this time to close his hand very quickly, and, having no reason to the contrary, naturally believes that it is the florin which he holds, your previous feint, when you did actually drop the florin, being specially designed to lead him to that conclusion. You next request him to hold the closed hand high, that all may see it. This draws the general attention to him, and away from yourself, and enables you to place in your palm the florin, which was left, after the change, in the bend of your right thumb. You continue, “You did better that time, sir. Now, what will you bet me that I cannot take that two-shilling-piece out of your hand without your knowing it?” Whether he admits or defies your power, the course of the trick is the same. “Well,” you say at last, “you seem so determined that I am almost afraid to take the whole of the two-shilling piece away from you, I think I must be content with one-and-elevenpence. Allow me to touch your hand with my wand.” You do so, and on opening his hand he discovers that the two-shilling piece has changed into a penny.

You thank him for his assistance, hand him the penny, and dismiss him to his seat. Naturally enough, he objects to accept the penny in place of his florin. You pretend at first not to understand him, but, as if suddenly enlightened, you exclaim, “Oh, the florin, you want the florin? My dear sir,” indicating the penny, “that is the florin. At present it is under an electric influence, but you have only to wait till that goes off (it won’t take more than three weeks or so), when it will resume its former appearance. You don’t believe me, I see; but I can easily convince you by discharging the electric fluid, when the change will take place at once. Observe!” You take the penny between the thumb and second finger of the left hand (after the manner indicated in Fig. 66), and make Change 4, making a gentle rubbing movement with the fingers and thumb of the right hand before you open that hand and disclose the restored florin, at the same time carelessly dropping your left hand to your side, and letting fall the penny into your pochette on that side. Bring up the left hand again, showing, but without apparent design, that it is empty; and still holding the coin in the right hand, make Pass 1, as if you transferred it to the left hand. Make a motion with the left hand, as if handing the coin, and say to the owner, “Will you be good enough to examine the florin, and see that it is the same you marked.” He naturally holds out his hand for the coin, which he believes to be in your left hand, and which you pretend to give him; but it has vanished. “Well,” you say, “is it the same florin?” Looking, probably, rather foolish, he replies that he has not got it. “Not got it!” you say; “why I have just given it to you. I passed it into your pocket. Look for yourself.” He forthwith begins to search his pockets. “You are trying the wrong one,” you say; “this is the pocket.” As if desiring merely to assist his search, you plunge into any pocket which he has not yet tried your right hand (in the palm of which the coin was left after the pass), and letting the coin drop to the finger ends, take it out as if it were already in the pocket, as nine-tenths of the audience will believe it to have been.

To make a marked Florin and Penny, wrapped in separate Handkerchiefs, change places at command.—Borrow a florin (or half-crown) and a penny, requesting the owners to mark them, that they may be sure of knowing them again. Also borrow two pocket handkerchiefs.

It may be well to mention, once for all, that it is generally desirable to borrow from the audience, when you can, any indifferent article used in a trick (e.g., a hat, a watch, or a handkerchief), as you thereby seem to give a guarantee for the absence of preparation. Articles so borrowed are taken upon trust, so to speak, and by making a secret exchange you may still use a prepared substitute, which will escape the close scrutiny to which any article confessedly provided by yourself would be subjected.

While the articles above mentioned are being collected from the audience, you secretly palm in your left hand a penny of your own. Receiving the borrowed coins in your right hand, apparently transfer them to the left, but really only transfer the florin, the marked penny remaining in your right hand. This may be effected by making Pass 2 with the marked penny, at the same time allowing the marked florin to drop from the palm as directed in Change 3. Take the earliest opportunity of transferring the marked penny to the palm of the right hand, and showing the marked florin and the substitute penny (which the spectators take to be the genuine one) on the open left hand, place them on your table, begging the audience to observe that they do not for one moment leave their sight. Then picking up with the right hand the florin, on which you may casually show the mark, and throwing one of the borrowed handkerchiefs over the hand, take hold (through the handkerchief) of apparently the florin which you have just shown, but really of the marked penny, and transfer the marked florin to the palm. The shape of the coin, which the audience take to be the florin, will be distinctly seen through the handkerchief, whose folds will fall down around it. Give the handkerchief containing the coin to some person, requesting him to hold it tightly just below the coin, and well above his head, that all may see it.J Now take up the substitute penny, and apparently wrap it, in like manner, in the second handkerchief, really substituting as before the coin concealed in your palm. The substitute penny, which remains in your right hand, you must drop into your pochette or profonde at the first available opportunity. Give the second handkerchief to another person to hold. The first handkerchief now, to all appearance, contains the florin, and the second the penny. Invite the two persons to stand face to face, the hands holding the handkerchiefs just touching, and after gravely cautioning them to hold very tight, etc., etc., give their hands a gentle rap with your wand, saying, “Change!” Upon examination, the coins are found to have obeyed your commands.

Managed with neatness and address, this is an admirable drawing-room trick; the previous marking of the coins apparently precluding any possibility of using substitutes, and allowing the spectator no alternative but to admit that by some mysterious means the identical coins have changed places.

A similar trick may be performed without the use of the handkerchief. As before, you borrow a marked florin and penny, exchanging the latter for one of your own, and palm the genuine one. Taking up the marked florin from the table, you hand it to some one to hold, substituting for it as you do so the genuine penny by Change 3, as indicated in the trick last described. The florin is thus left in your right hand. Palm it, and take up the substitute penny between the second finger and thumb of the left hand, and pretend by Pass 4 to transfer it to the right, which you immediately close. Drop the penny into your pochette on the left side, and announce that by your magic power you will compel the penny which you hold to change places with the florin held by the spectator. When the hands are opened, the supposed change is found to be accomplished.

To make two marked Coins, wrapped in separate Handkerchiefs, come together in one of them.—The coins and handkerchiefs borrowed for the purpose of the last trick will again serve in this one. Palm in your right hand a penny of your own, and throw over the same hand one of the borrowed handkerchiefs. This will effectually conceal the substitute penny, which you may now take between the finger and thumb. Holding the handkerchief spread out upon the open hand, you take up with the left hand the marked penny and place it on the handkerchief, as if to wrap it therein, but at the same time with the third finger push a fold of the handkerchief under the substitute penny in your right hand. You now invert the handkerchief over your left hand for a minute, allowing the marked penny to drop back into that hand, and at the same time twist the fold already mentioned around the substitute. The audience see the shape of a coin wrapped up in the handkerchief, and naturally believe that it is that of the marked penny which you have apparently placed inside it. In reality, it is that of your own penny, wrapped merely in an outside fold. You now hand the handkerchief to some one to hold, requesting him to grasp the coin, and hold tightly.

The marked penny, it will be remembered, remains in your left hand, and the marked florin on the table. As you go to take up the latter, you transfer the penny to your right hand, and palm it; then pick up the florin, holding it at the tips of the fingers. Spread the second handkerchief on the open palm of the left hand. Bring the florin down smartly upon it, and by the same movement let the penny fall from the palm on to the handkerchief. The two coins will now be lying (covered by the right hand) on the handkerchief, a couple of inches apart. Close the left hand on both coins, and turn the hand over, so that the edges of the handkerchief hang down. With the right hand grasp the handkerchief five or six inches below the coins. Take one of these through the handkerchief between the finger and thumb of the left hand, letting the other fall loose inside the handkerchief, which you then invite some one to hold in like manner, but in a horizontal position. (See Fig. 76.) This position is adopted in order that the two coins may not, by any accidental chink, prematurely disclose the fact that both are already in the handkerchief.

You now announce that you are about to make both coins pass into one handkerchief. Advancing to the person who holds the first handkerchief, you request him, still maintaining his hold, to remove his hand four or five inches below the coin, to give you room to operate. First showing that your hand is empty, you gently rub the substitute penny through the handkerchief between your finger and thumb, when, being only wrapped within a fold, it quickly falls into your hand. No one ever thinks of inquiring at this point whether it is the marked one or not. Taking it in the left hand, in position for Pass 4, you say to the person holding the second handkerchief “Having extracted this penny from the one handkerchief, I will now pass it into the other. I won’t even touch the handkerchief, but will simply take the coin in my hand, and say, ‘Pass!’ Will you be good enough, at the word ‘pass,’ to let go of the coin you are holding, but still keep hold of the handkerchief with the other hand.” Appearing, by Pass 4, to take the penny in the right hand, you open that hand with a quick motion towards the handkerchief, saying, “Pass!” The person holding the handkerchief looses his hold, as directed, when the two coins are heard to chink together, as though the second coin had just arrived in the handkerchief, and on examination they are, of course, found to be those marked.

We may here describe another and still neater mode (the invention, we believe, of M. Robert-Houdin) of apparently wrapping a coin securely in a handkerchief, though really only covered by an outer fold.

Holding the coin upright between the fingers and thumb of the left hand, throw the handkerchief fairly over it. Having shown that it is fairly covered, remark, “But perhaps you may fancy I have changed the coin. Allow me to show you that I have not.” With the right hand, palm upwards, take the coin through the handkerchief, (as shown in Fig. 77), between the first and second fingers of that hand. For a moment let go with the left hand (but without removing it from under the handkerchief). Turn over the right hand towards yourself, and again seize the coin with the left hand; but this time nip the opposite edge of the coin to that which it first held, and through the double thickness of the handkerchief. Remove the right hand from the coin, and with it raise the outer edge of the handkerchief and show the coin, as in Fig. 78. Then let the edges of the handkerchief fall. Apparently the coin is underneath, and in the centre of the handkerchief; but in reality it is outside, lying in a slight fold on the side away from the spectators.

The above description sounds intricate, but, if carefully followed with the coin and handkerchief will be found perfectly simple in practice. It is worth while taking some pains to acquire this sleight, as it is of great value in coin tricks.

To Pull Four Florins or Half-crowns through a Handkerchief.—You begin by borrowing four marked half-crowns, florins, or penny-pieces, and a silk or cambric handkerchief. You then request the assistance of a very strong man. This gives an opportunity for a little fun in the selection. Having at last found a volunteer to your liking, you seat him on a chair facing the company. Spreading the handkerchief on your left palm, and placing the four coins upon it, you close your hand upon them through the handkerchief, and hand them to him, requesting him to hold them firmly. Then, as if suddenly recollecting yourself, you say, “Pardon me, I have omitted one little detail which is rather important. Oblige me with the handkerchief again for one moment, if you please. I ought to have shown the company that there are no holes in it.” (The last sentence should not be pronounced until you have gained possession of the handkerchief, as the company might possibly declare themselves satisfied of the fact without examination, which would not answer your purpose.). The handkerchief being returned to you, you spread it out to show that it is free from holes, coming among the audience to do so, and appearing to lay great stress upon the fact. Again spreading it over your left hand, you count the coins one by one upon it; then giving a glance round at the company, you say, as you quickly return to your platform, “You have all seen that the four coins are fairly wrapped in the handkerchief,” or make any other remark in order to draw the general attention, as a sharp, quick remark almost always will, to your face and away from your hands. At the same moment you move the left thumb over the face of the coins, thereby covering them with a fold of the handkerchief, and seize them, through the fold thus made, between the thumb and fingers of the right hand, as indicated in Fig. 79, immediately withdrawing the left hand. The coins will now be held in the right hand, the handkerchief hanging down loosely around them. To any one who has not watched your movements with more than ordinary vigilance, it will appear that the coins are within and under the handkerchief, though they are, in reality, wrapped in an external fold. Giving them a twist round in the handkerchief, you hand it to the person assisting you, asking him to say whether the money is still there, to which he naturally replies in the affirmative. You then tell him to grasp the handkerchief with both hands three or four inches below the coins, and to hold as tightly as he possibly can. Placing your wand under your right arm, and taking hold of the coins (through the handkerchief) with both hands, the right hand undermost, you begin to pull against him, making a show of pulling with great force, and remarking that you are very glad it is not your handkerchief, that you should not have thought he was so strong, etc. Meanwhile, and while the company are enjoying the discomfiture of the owner of the handkerchief, you untwist the latter, and secretly get the money out of the fold into your right hand, and palm it therein. Give one last pull with your left hand, and let go smartly, observing that you fear you must give it up, and own yourself conquered. Take your wand in your right hand; this will make it seem natural for you to keep that hand closed, and will materially aid in concealing the fact that the money is therein. Your antagonist, or the spectators for him, will by this time have discovered that the money has vanished; but you pretend to be unconscious of the fact, and request him to give it back, that you may return it to the owners. He naturally declares that he has not got it. With all the seriousness that you can command, you insist that he has it, and that he must restore it. On his continued denial you suggest that he should search his pockets, which you tap, one after another, with your wand, each giving a metallic sound as if containing money; but the coins are still not to be found. At last, after all his pockets have been tried in vain, you, as if upon a sudden thought, tap the leg of his trousers, the metallic chink still following every tap of the wand till you have nearly reached his feet, when you exclaim, “Yes, there it is. Will you have the kindness to put your foot on that chair?” He does so, and quickly transferring your wand to the left hand, with the fingers of the right you turn up the edge of the trouser, giving at the same time a slight shake, when the four coins are seen to fall out, to the great surprise of the victim.

This effect is produced as follows: The coins being in your right hand, you introduce them with the second, third, and fourth fingers under the edge of the trouser; then, with the first finger and thumb which are left outside, you nip them through the cloth, and hold them an instant till you have withdrawn the remaining fingers, when with a slight shake you let them fall.

The metallic chink on tapping the pockets may be produced in two ways. One method is to use a hollow metal wand, japanned to match the one you ordinarily use, and containing throughout its length a loose piece of thick wire, which, striking against the sides of the tube, exactly imitates the chink of money. The other mode is to use merely the ordinary wand, allowing the end which you hold to chink against the money held in the same hand. With a little practice the effect is equally deceptive as with the special wand.

To pass a Marked Florin (or Half-crown) into the Centre of two Oranges in Succession.—For this excellent trick a little previous preparation is necessary. A slit, an inch and a half deep, and just large enough to admit a florin, is made in each of two oranges, and in one of them a florin (which for distinction we will call No. 1) is placed. These must be put in readiness behind the scenes, or so placed as to be out of sight of the audience.

The performer palms in either hand a second florin (No. 2), and advancing to his audience, borrows from one of them a florin, first marked by the owner. (This last we will call No. 3). He invites special attention to the fact that throughout the experiment he is about to perform, the coin is never removed from their sight, and he accordingly places it (really substituting, by one or other of the changes, florin No. 2) in full view on his table. He then goes out to fetch an orange, and takes the opportunity of slipping the marked florin (No. 3) into the vacant one. He brings forward this orange publicly, and places it on his table at his right hand. (The other orange he has meanwhile placed in his secret pocket on the right side, ready for palming at a moment’s notice.) He then says, “I think, by the way, it would be as well to have two oranges. Can any gentleman oblige me with one?” No one responding, he looks about him, and presently stepping up to one of his audience, pretends to take from his hair, hat, or handkerchief this second orange (which contains, it will be remembered, florin No. 1), and places it on the left hand side of the table. He now (standing behind his table) asks into which orange, the right or the left, he shall pass the florin. As the right of the audience is his left, he is at liberty to interpret the answer in whichever way he thinks proper, and he does so in such manner as to designate the orange containing the non-marked florin, No. 1. Thus, if the audience say “the left,” he answers, “On my left? Very good!” If they choose “the right,” he says, “On your right? Very good!” Not one person in a thousand will detect the equivoque.

Taking up florin No. 2 from the table, and holding it in his left hand, he pretends by the tourniquet to take it in his right, and thence to pass it into the orange, meanwhile dropping it from his left hand on to the servante, or into the profonde. Showing his hands empty, he cuts open the orange, and exhibits the florin (No. 1) therein contained. Before giving the audience time to examine it for the mark, he hears, or pretends to hear, a murmur among them to the effect that that was not the orange chosen. “Pardon me,” he says, “some of you seem to think that I had a special reason for preferring this particular orange. I gave you absolute liberty to choose which you liked, and I understood you to say that you chose this one. However, in order to satisfy everyone, I will repeat the trick with the other orange.” Taking up the second orange, he thrusts the knife through it, in the slit already made, and gives the knife thus loaded to some one to hold. Then, standing at some distance from it, he takes up florin No. 1, and, getting rid of it by one or other of the “passes” previously described, he makes a motion as of throwing it towards the orange. He now requests the person holding the orange himself to cut it open; when the genuine florin, No. 3, is found therein, and duly identified.

The finding of the second orange in the possession of the company may, if preferred, be omitted, and both oranges be brought forward openly in the first instance.

Occasionally a refractory spectator may insist upon the wrong orange (i.e., that containing the genuine coin) being cut open first. As you have offered the audience the choice, you cannot well resist this; but it makes very little difference. In accordance with the general desire, you cut open the orange, and show the coin (No. 3), drawing particular attention to the mark. Its identity being fully established, you offer, for the general satisfaction, to pass the same coin into the second orange. Being satisfied that it was the genuine coin in the first case, the audience will the more readily believe that it is so in the second; but in this case you should cut open the second orange yourself, as it will be necessary to again substitute the genuine florin before you hand the coin to be examined.

The Flying Money.—To make a Coin pass invisibly from the one hand to the other, and finally through the Table.—Have ready beforehand a florin or half-crown, with a little wax on one side of it, and take an opportunity of secretly sticking it, by means of the wax, against the under side of the table (any ordinary table) with which you intend to perform the trick. Have also a similar coin of your own palmed in your right hand. Borrow a marked florin from one of the company, and lay it carelessly upon the table, but in so doing exchange it for the one previously palmed. You now have the substitute on the table, and the marked coin palmed in its place. Turn up your sleeves, to show that they have nothing to do with the trick, and make a few introductory remarks about the extraordinary power of the mesmeric influence as applied to metallic substances; then, taking up the coin from the table between the fingers and thumb of the left hand, which you hold with the palm towards the company, so as to show incidentally that it is otherwise empty, continue to the following effect:—“Here, ladies and gentlemen, is an ordinary coin, a mere inert piece of silver. If you take it in your hand, there it will remain till you lay it down. But let a person possessing the mesmeric gift only breathe upon it” (you suit the action to the word), “and it is at once endowed with hearing, sense, and motion, and will fly from hand to hand at the mere word of command, and that so rapidly, that its flight is absolutely invisible. See, I take it so” (taking it in the right hand). “One, two, three! Pass! and it flies back into my left hand again. In order to show that there has been no substitution, perhaps the owner will kindly verify the mark.” The coin is examined, and found to be the same.

This illusion is produced as follows:—When you breathe upon the substitute coin, you naturally turn the left hand palm upwards. In the act of taking that coin in the right hand, which you do with the hands in the position depicted in Fig. 69, you drop the genuine coin, which was previously palmed in the right hand, into the left, the position of the hand concealing it from the audience. After a momentary pause, you close the left hand, and hold it extended about level with your eyes. At each of the words, “One, two, three,” you make a slight motion of the right hand towards it, and at the word “Pass,” palm the coin by means of Pass 1, at the same time making a half turn of your body to the left, opening the left hand, and pointing with the index finger of the right hand to the coin lying therein. While it is being examined for the mark, you drop the substitute, which remains palmed in your right hand, into the pochette on that side, and bring up your hand empty.

Having proceeded thus far, borrow a second florin, but without in this case suggesting that it should be marked, breathe upon it, and lay it with that first used upon the table. Now with your right hand take up one of the coins, and by Pass 1 pretend to transfer it to the left, really retaining it in the palm of the right hand. Then take up the second coin between the fingers and thumb of the right hand, and announce that you are about to make the coins, which you now hold in each hand, come together. Holding your arms well apart, you make a motion with the left hand as if throwing something towards the right, at the same moment saying as before, “One, two, three! Pass!” and making the two coins in the right hand come together with an audible chink. You then open the hand, and show that the left is empty, and that both of the coins are together in the right hand.

You continue, “You all think you know how that was done, I dare say. You imagine, no doubt, that the money was merely thrown from one hand to the other with extreme rapidity. ‘The quickness of the hand deceives the eye,’ as Shakspeare (or somebody else) says. I will therefore show you the same experiment in another form in which you will find that no such solution is admissible. I will pass the money right through this table, which is, as you see, pretty solid. The quickness of the hand would not be of much use in this case. I take one of the coins in the left hand, as before.”

Here, however, you introduce a feint. Taking up the coin in the right hand, you transfer it to the left, but purposely do it with a pretended awkwardness, and hold the right hand afterwards rather stiffly, so as to lead the spectators to believe that you have really retained the coin in the right hand. To do this cleverly will require considerable practice, but it will by no means be labour lost, as feints of this kind are of frequent use.

The spectators, delighted to have, as they imagine, caught you tripping, are sure to exclaim that the coin is still in your right hand. “Surely, ladies and gentlemen,” you say, with an injured air, “you don’t think that I would avail myself of such a transparent artifice. See for yourselves!” opening your hands. “I won’t ask you to apologize, but pray give me a little more credit for the future. Come; we will have no mistake about it this time.” Take the florin between the finger and thumb of the left hand, and, by means of the tourniquet or pincette, appear to transfer it to the right. Pick up the second coin with the left hand, and place that hand under the table, holding the closed right hand above it. Say “Pass!”, open the right hand, show it empty, and at the same moment chink the two florins together in the left hand, and bring them up for inspection.

Looking around you, you continue, “I am afraid you are only half convinced; some of you look incredulous still. Come, we will try the experiment once more, and we will see whether you can find me out this time. As before, I take one coin in each hand.” This time you actually do so. You again pass your left hand under the table, detaching in its passage the third florin, which you had previously stuck to the under side of the table, but taking care that the two do not prematurely jingle together. Then, holding the other florin with the fingers of the right hand, which should be held palm downwards about a foot above the table, make Pass 1 with that hand, thus bringing the coin into its palm, and at the same time chink the other two coins in the left hand, and bring them up for examination. One of them, in this instance, is a substitute, and therefore, in the unlikely event of the audience insisting that the trick should be performed with marked coins, this last act must be omitted.

With a regular conjuring-table, the trick might be made even more surprising, from the facilities which the servante would afford for getting rid of and regaining the coin. But even if you habitually use such a table, it is better not to avail yourself of it for this purpose. The trick is, in any shape, too minute for stage performance, and in a drawing-room it is apt to draw special attention to the table, which in the case of a trick-table is a little embarrassing.

To rub One Sixpence into Three.—This is a simple little parlour trick, but will sometimes occasion great wonderment. Procure three sixpences of the same issue and privately stick two of them (as directed for the florin in the last trick) with wax to the under side of a table, at about half an inch from the edge, and eight or ten inches apart. Announce to the company that you are about to teach them how to make money. Turn up your sleeves, and take the third sixpence in your right hand, drawing particular attention to its date and general appearance, and indirectly to the fact that you have no other coin concealed in your hands. Turning back the table-cover, rub the sixpence with the ball of the thumb backwards and forwards on the edge of the table. In this position your fingers will naturally be below the edge. After rubbing for a few seconds, say, “It is nearly done, for the sixpence is getting hot;” and, after rubbing a moment or two longer with increased rapidity, draw the hand away sharply, carrying away with it one of the concealed sixpences, which you exhibit as produced by the friction. Pocketing the waxed sixpence, and again showing that you have but one coin in your hands, repeat the operation with the remaining sixpence.

The Multiplication of Money.—This is an old and favourite trick. It may be performed with shillings, pence, or florins, as may best suit your convenience. Whichever you use (we will suppose florins), you prepare for the trick by secretly palming in the right hand such number (say three) as you intend to magically add. Advancing to the audience, you beg the loan of ten or a dozen florins (the precise number is immaterial), at the same time requesting some one of the company to collect them, and bring them to you. He collects, we will suppose, twelve. You request him to count them openly upon the table, that all may be able to verify their number. This being done, you invite a second person also to step forward and assist. Picking up from the table the same number of coins as you have concealed in your palm, you give them to one of the two persons (whom we will call A) to hold. Then, taking up the remaining coins, you request the second person (whom we will call B) to take charge of them. When he holds out his hand to receive them, you let fall with them the palmed coins, so that he really receives twelve, though he believes that he has only nine. You make him close his hand, and hold it high above his head. You then ask A for the coins you entrusted to him. On his returning them to you, you take them between the second finger and thumb of the left hand, and pretend by the tourniquet to transfer them to the right, really getting rid of them at the earliest opportunity on the servante, or into one of your pochettes. The audience believe that the three coins are in your closed right hand. You announce that you are about to pass them invisibly into the hand of B, and after the necessary amount of magical gesture, you open your hand, and show that they have vanished; and B, on examining his stock, finds that the supposed nine have increased to twelve.

It is a very good plan, in performing this trick, for the performer himself to collect the coins from the company in a plate, the coins to be added being held in the same hand which carries the plate, when, the thumb being naturally above and the fingers below, the coins are effectually concealed. After the coins have been counted, the performer, taking the plate in the other hand, pours them from it into the hand which already holds the concealed coins, thus bringing them together easily and naturally.

A further improvement may be made in the trick by using, in place of an ordinary plate, a special plate or salver, generally made of tin japanned, but sometimes of crockery or china. The speciality of this plate (which is known as the “money plate,” or “multiplying salver”) consists in a flat space running along its bottom, between its upper and under surface, just wide enough and deep enough to hold concealed a row of coins (florins or shillings, as the case may be), and closed at the one end, but open at the other, the opening being concealed by the edge of the plate. (See Fig. 80.) You prepare the plate beforehand by placing in the concealed space three, four, or six coins, and place it on your table. When you first take it up, you take hold of it near the opening, when you may, of course, handle it as freely as you please, as, the mouth of the passage being upwards, the coins cannot possibly fall out. Letting the plate hang downwards in a perpendicular position, and passing it carelessly from hand to hand, the audience cannot help observing that you have nothing concealed in your hands. Then collect (or count out, if already collected) the money in the plate, and, after taking away and handing to A a number equal to the coins concealed, pour the remainder direct from the plate into the hands of B, first, however, so reversing the position of the plate (which you may do by merely transferring it from the one hand to the other) as to turn the opening of the passage away from you. When you now slope the plate to pour the remaining coins into his hands, the money in the concealed passage will naturally pour out with them (see Fig. 80), thus making the required addition with hardly a possibility of detection.

It is a good plan to perform the trick first without, and then to repeat it with, the aid of the money plate, making a great point in the second instance of the fact that you do not even touch the money, and accounting for the use of the plate as designed to preclude all possibility of the use of sleight-of-hand, or any other mechanical mode of deception. The spectators, having already seen you perform the trick without the aid of the plate, are precluded from supposing that this latter has any special connection with the secret; and seeing clearly that you have in this instance no coins concealed in your hands, naturally conclude that the same was the case on the former occasion. Thus the repetition of the trick, instead of assisting them to a solution, rather increases the mystery.

The trick may be varied at pleasure so far as regards the manner of the disappearance of the coins which are supposed to be passed invisibly into the hands of the person holding the larger number. One mode is to ask one of the company to wrap them up in a piece of stiff paper, for which you forthwith secretly substitute a piece of similar paper, in which a like number of coins have been wrapped, but have been removed, the paper, however, retaining the form of the coins. Taking this in the left hand, you pretend to take from it, invisibly, with the finger and thumb of the right hand, each coin in succession, and to pass it in the same manner into the hand of the person holding the remaining coins, finally tearing the paper in half to show that they have really passed away from it. Or you may, if you prefer it, place the coins in question on the “vanishing plate,” to be hereafter described, whence they mysteriously disappear as you take them off one by one. This is a very effective mode. Or you may place them in the “plug-box,” the “Davenport cabinet,” or any other of the various appliances after-mentioned for vanishing money.

To make a Marked Sixpence vanish from a Handkerchief, and be found in the Centre of an Apple or Orange previously examined.—Have ready, concealed in either hand, a sixpence of your own, with a little wax smeared on one side of it. Roll another minute portion of wax into a round ball half the size of a peppercorn, and press it lightly upon the lowest button of your waistcoat, so that you may be able to find it instantly when wanted. You must also have at hand an ordinary full-sized table-knife and a plate of oranges.