Modern Magic: A Practical Treatise on the Art of Conjuring

THE HANDKERCHIEF FOR VANISHING MONEY.--This is another appliance for vanishing a coin. It is an ordinary handkerchief of silk or cotton, in one corner of which, in a little pocket, is sewn a coin, say a florin or a penny, or any substitute which, felt through the substance of the handkerchief, shall appear to be such a coin. The mode of using it is very simple. Holding the handkerchief by the corner in which is the coin, and letting it hang loosely down, the performer borrows a similar coin, and, after carelessly shaking out the handkerchief, to show that all is fair, he places, to all appearance, the borrowed coin in the centre (underneath), and gives the handkerchief to some one to hold. In reality, he has only wrapped up the corner containing the substitute coin, and retains the genuine one for his own purposes. When it is desirable to make it appear that the coin has left the handkerchief, he simply takes it from the person holding it, and gives it a shake, at the same moment rapidly running the edges of the handkerchief through his hands, till the corner containing the coin comes into one or the other of them.