Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

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.