Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

The trick may be varied in many ways, according to the ingenuity of the performer, but it belongs at best to the “juvenile” school of conjuring, and we have not thought it worth while to waste space in elaborating it. THE ANIMATED COIN, WHICH ANSWERS QUESTIONS, ETC.--This trick is performed in a variety of different ways, some with apparatus, some without. The effect produced is as follows:--The performer borrows a coin, and, after making a few mesmeric passes over it, drops it into a glass upon the table, where it immediately begins to jump about as if alive. The performer then announces that the coin thus mesmerized has the power of fortune-telling, naming chosen cards, predicting the number that will be thrown by a pair of dice, etc. The coin answers “Yes” by jumping three times, “No” by jumping once--according to the approved spiritualistic code of signals. We shall not stay to discuss the questions asked, which are of the same class as those which are generally put to the Magic Bell or Drum, but proceed at once to explain the various modes of producing the movement of the coin. One plan is for the performer to have a coin of his own, to which is attached a long black silk thread, the other end of which is in the hand of an assistant behind the scenes, or elsewhere out of sight of the audience. This coin is placed on the table in readiness, but concealed from the spectators by some larger object in front of it. When the performer advances to the table with the borrowed coin, he secretly picks up the prepared one, and drops the latter into the glass as being that which he has borrowed. A short, quick jerk of the thread by the assistant will make the coin spring up and fall back again, producing the required chink. It is only necessary to be careful not to jerk the thread so violently as to make the coin fly out of the glass. It is desirable, where practicable, to make the thread pass either through a hole in the top of the table, or a ring fixed to its surface and placed immediately behind the glass. This will keep that portion of the thread nearest to the glass perpendicular behind it, in which position it will be completely hidden by the glass, and so be invisible.