Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

THE VANISHING HALFPENNY BOX. TO MAKE A HALFPENNY VANISH FROM THE BOX, AND AGAIN RETURN TO IT.--This is a little round box, made of boxwood, about an inch deep, and of such diameter that its internal measurement exactly admits a halfpenny; in other words, that if a halfpenny be placed in it, it exactly covers the bottom. The top and bottom of the box are lined with some bright-coloured paper, and with it is used a halfpenny, one side of which is covered with similar paper. If therefore this halfpenny be placed in the box with the papered side upwards, the halfpenny is naturally taken to be the bottom of the box, which thus appears empty.