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                    Bobo's Coin Magic

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Bobo's Coin Magic     Presented by www.learnmagictricks.org       Page 1
                    BOBO'S COIN MAGIC
                       By J.B. Bobo


Edited by John Braun

Illustrated by Nelson C. Hahne

Dedication: To My Great Grandfather JEAN BEAUBEAUX
who, when he immigrated to America,was induced to spell
his name BOBO the way Beaubeaux is pronounced in
French.




Table of Contents
Acknowledgments......................................................................................................18
Prologue--Of Coins and Conjuring..........................................................................20
Bibliography...............................................................................................................26
MonieScot's Discouverie of Witchcraft, 1584.........................................................27
   Chapter I Coin Concealments...............................28
The Classic Palm........................................................................................................29
The Edge Palm...........................................................................................................32
The Thumb Palm.......................................................................................................34
The Downs Palm........................................................................................................36
The Finger Palm........................................................................................................39
The Front Finger Hold..............................................................................................40
The Back Palm...........................................................................................................41
The Back Finger Clip................................................................................................45
The Back Thumb Palm.............................................................................................48
   Chapter II Basic Technique..................................52
The Bobo Switch........................................................................................................53
Utility Switch..............................................................................................................56
One-Hand Switch.......................................................................................................58

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Shaw-Judah Coin Switch..........................................................................................60
The Click Pass............................................................................................................63
The Click Pass--Paul Morris....................................................................................66
The Coin Flip.............................................................................................................70
Change-Over Pass......................................................................................................72
The Bottom Steal--Paul Morris................................................................................74
Producing a Coin from a Spectator's Clothing.......................................................78
Taking Advantage of a Fumble.................................................................................80
   Chapter III Coin Vanishes...................................84
Standard Vanish.........................................................................................................85
Simple Vanish.............................................................................................................87
Over the Top...............................................................................................................89
The Tunnel Vanish.....................................................................................................91
Thumb Palm Vanish..................................................................................................93
The Drop Vanish--Milton Kort.................................................................................95
The Bobo Coin Vanish...............................................................................................99
The Slide Vanish--John Mulholland......................................................................103
The Illusive Coin Pass--T. J. Crawford In Greater Magic...................................105
A Coin Vanish--Reprinted from Greater Magic...................................................108
The Pinch Vanish......................................................................................................111
Gone--Bill Simon......................................................................................................113
The New Era Coin Go--Jimmy Buffaloe................................................................116
The Flyaway Coin--Frank Garcia..........................................................................119
Behind the Back.......................................................................................................121
The French Drop (Le Tourniquet Vanish).............................................................123
The Reverse French Drop--Dr. E. M. Roberts......................................................126
The Elusive Silver Dollar--Al Saal.........................................................................129
The Wrist Watch Vanish--Royal H. Brin, Jr.........................................................131
The Pulse Trick--Glenn Harrison...........................................................................133
The Cranium Vanish--Wallace Lee's Version.......................................................136
Vanish with the Aid of a Handkerchief..................................................................137
The "Heads and Tails" Vanish--H. Adrian Smith................................................140
Vanish for Several Coins.........................................................................................143
A Trio of Vanishes--Ross Bertram..........................................................................146
   Chapter IV Complete Coin Vanishes..................151
The Bobo Complete Coin Vanish...........................................................................152
Complete Thumb Palm Vanish...............................................................................154
Knee-zy Vanish.........................................................................................................155
Sucker vanish...........................................................................................................156
Pocket Vanish...........................................................................................................160
With a Handkerchief--Number One......................................................................164
With a Handkerchief--Number Two--Jimmy Buffaloe........................................167


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With a Handkerchief--Number Three--Milton Kort............................................170
In a Spectator's Pocket............................................................................................173
Bluff Vanish..............................................................................................................178
Sucker Bluff Vanish--Milton Kort..........................................................................180
The Coin Fold...........................................................................................................181
The Envelope Vanish...............................................................................................184
   Chapter V Quick Tricks......................................186
Through the Leg......................................................................................................187
Rubbed Through the Leg........................................................................................189
Through the Pocket.................................................................................................192
Through the Hand...................................................................................................195
Through a Handkerchief.........................................................................................200
Double Penetration--Jimmy Buffaloe....................................................................206
Pants Leg Miracle--Jimmy Buffaloe......................................................................210
Half Dollar to Quarter--Milton Kort.....................................................................211
The Charmed Coin..................................................................................................215
The Coin of Metamorphosis--Dr. E. M. Roberts..................................................217
Coin to Key--Courtesy J. G. Thompson's My Best..............................................222
Change for a Half....................................................................................................227
Much from Little--John Braun's Version..............................................................228
The Topsy Turvy Coins--Karrel Fox And Roy Kissel...........................................231
The Impromptu Mint--Jimmy Buffaloe................................................................234
Smart Coin Trick--Frank M. Chapman, Courtesy The Bat................................237
Impromptu Version--J. G. Thompson, Jr..............................................................241
The Switchover--Jimmy Buffaloe...........................................................................242
The Appearing Half--Jimmy Buffaloe...................................................................245
Coin Production from Two Cards..........................................................................247
The Touch of Midas--Cardini.................................................................................252
One to Four--Cal Emmett.......................................................................................257
One to Six--Jack Chanin.........................................................................................261
   Chapter VI Cuffing
   Dr. E. M. Roberts' Method--Louis Tannen's Method
   ..........................................................................266
   Chapter VII The Art of Sleeving.........................273
The Art of Sleeving Some Observations on the Subject......................................274
Delayed Action Sleeving..........................................................................................276
Improved Method....................................................................................................278
The "Pumpkin Seed" Vanish..................................................................................279
Reverse "Pumpkin Seed" Vanish--Ross Bertram.................................................281
The Catapult............................................................................................................283
Judah Method--Stewart Judah...............................................................................285
A Unique Sleeving Move--Ross Bertram...............................................................287

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The Throw--J. A. Bowling.......................................................................................289
Kort Method--Milton Kort.....................................................................................291
Kirk Stiles Method...................................................................................................294
A Method of Sleeving One of Several Coins--Milton Kort..................................296
Dr. E. M. Roberts' Method.....................................................................................298
Loading.....................................................................................................................306
Switching..................................................................................................................309
The Sleeve Pocket.....................................................................................................311
Tricks Using Sleeving..............................................................................................312
Penetration...............................................................................................................313
Migration..................................................................................................................316
 Tricks Using Sleeving ...........................................................................................318
Devaluation...............................................................................................................323
InflationFollow-Up to Devaluation........................................................................326
Transformation........................................................................................................328
Dime and Penny for the Wiseacre--Al Saal and Milton Kort..............................331
The Vagabond Coins--Milton Kort........................................................................334
Change for a Dollar--Dr. E. M. Roberts................................................................337
The World's Fastest Coin Vanish and Reproduction--Dr. E. M. Roberts..........338
Almost a Transposition--Stewart James and Milton Kort...................................341
Copper and Silver Transposition--Milton Kort....................................................344
Copper and Silver Transposition--Second Method Stewart Judah....................347
Copper and Silver Transposition--Third Method Arthur Punnar, By permission
of Hugard's Monthly...............................................................................................348
Copper and Silver Transposition--Fourth Method Ross Bertram......................350
Guess Which Hand--C. James Mclemore..............................................................356
Quarter and Half Dollar Transposition After a version which appeared in
Ireland Writes a Book.............................................................................................367
The Curious Nickel--Thomas H. Bearden.............................................................373
Two Pennies On The Leg--J. G. Thompson, Jr.....................................................376
The Inseparable Pair...............................................................................................378
Coins in the Teeth....................................................................................................383
The Drop Pass Jimmy Buffaloe..............................................................................385
The Hippity Hop Half--Jimmy Buffaloe................................................................387
Rapid Transit Royal--H. Brin, Jr...........................................................................390
Winged Silver (A basic method using an extra coin.)--Nelson C. Hahne...........393
The Flying Eagles.....................................................................................................400
Three and Three.......................................................................................................403
Chinese Money Mystery..........................................................................................405
Frank Drobina's Coin Routine--Frank Drobina..................................................409
Four Coins to a Glass Described by Arthur Buckley...........................................419
Four Coins to a Glass--Second Version..................................................................424
The Traveling Centavos Reprinted through the courtesy of The Sphinx

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Publishing Corporation...........................................................................................427
Miracle Coins to the Pocket Glenn Harrison........................................................435
   Chapter VIII Coins Across..................................441
A Novel Vanish And Reproduction.........................................................................443
Tricks Using Sleeving.............................................................................................445
The Stratosphere Quarters Dr. E. M. Roberts......................................................448
Die to Dime Kirk Stiles............................................................................................451
   Chapter IX Coin Classics....................................455
Coin Through a Ring...............................................................................................456
Silver or Copper Extraction....................................................................................463
Copper Penetration.................................................................................................473
The Expansion of Texture--Expanded!..................................................................479
The Gadabout Coins................................................................................................482
The Three Coin Trick--Milton Kort.......................................................................487
The Bent Penny........................................................................................................492
Silver Extraction--Dr. Boris Zola...........................................................................495
The Ghost of a Coin.................................................................................................498
Coins Through the Table.........................................................................................501
The Magical Filtration of Four Half Dollars--Al Baker......................................510
The Sympathetic Coins...........................................................................................518
The Al Saal Stratagem.............................................................................................522
The Coin Roll...........................................................................................................529
The Downs Coin Star..............................................................................................531
Roll Down Flourish with Four Coins.....................................................................535
Downs Eureka Pass.................................................................................................537
"Eureka" RoutineArthur Punnar..........................................................................540
Rattle Box RoutineStewart Judah..........................................................................543
Thieves and SheepMilton Kort and Stewart James.............................................546
Just Pretend Stuart Cramer...................................................................................549
The Free and Unlimited Coinage of Silver............................................................557
Coins and Cards Glenn Harrison Courtesy The Sphinx Publishing Corporation
...................................................................................................................................559
   Chapter X Coin Boxes.........................................566
The Okito Coin Box.................................................................................................567
Coins Through Box and the Hand.........................................................................576
Okito Box, Coin and Handkerchief........................................................................578
Routine With an Okito Coin Box and a SilkJack Chanin...................................581
Silver to Copper with the Okito Coin BoxDr. Carl L. Moore..............................584
The Half Dollars and the Okito Box J. Elder Blacrledge.....................................586
The George Boston Combination Coin Box..........................................................599
Copper and Silver Transposition with the Combination Coin Box....................601
The German Coin Box............................................................................................602


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The Paul Fox Coin Boxes........................................................................................605
   Chapter XI Trick Coin Trickery............................610
Squeeze Play Stewart James...................................................................................612
Jimmy Valentine Picks a Lock Stewart James......................................................614
Money Paper Stewart James..................................................................................616
Almost a TranspositionStewart James...................................................................620
The Homing Coins--Al Caroselli............................................................................622
The Circus Trick......................................................................................................625
The 16¢ Vanish.........................................................................................................627
85¢ Through the Table (The $1.35 Trick) Rolland Hamblen...............................628
Copper and Silver Transposition (Using the Double Faced Coin)......................631
Presto Chango Thomas H. Bearden.......................................................................637
The Inferior Coin Milton Kort...............................................................................640
Thieves and Sheep Lillian Bobo.............................................................................645
In and Out "Hen" Fetsch........................................................................................646
Up Their Sleeve "Hen" Fetsch...............................................................................649
Buddha's Coin "Hen" Fetsch.................................................................................652
The Stack of Quarters Nate Leipzig......................................................................655
The Hook Coin.........................................................................................................663
The Magnet..............................................................................................................668
Sundry Gimmicked Coins and Tricks Therewith.................................................672
Nickel to Half Dollar................................................................................................673
Liberty Head Half and U.S. Penny........................................................................674
The Ring Coin..........................................................................................................676
Short Changed Gene Gordon.................................................................................678
The Marksman Jimmy Buffaloe............................................................................682
The Squirting Nickel...............................................................................................684
   Chapter XII Shell and Folding Half.....................686
The Shell Half...........................................................................................................687
Mystery With a Half Shell......................................................................................688
How To Make Money..............................................................................................690
Three Questions Dave Coleman.............................................................................693
Coin Through a Glass..............................................................................................695
Perfected Coin Through HandkerchiefJimmy Buffaloe......................................699
25¢ and 50¢ Transposition Dr. Carl L. Moore......................................................704
The Peregrinating Halves Reprinted Through the Courtesy of The Bat...........707
Coins Through the Table Milton Kort...................................................................714
The Protean Coin Milton Kort...............................................................................720
The Sympathetic Coins Milton Kort......................................................................727
The Modern Miser...................................................................................................734
The Folding Half......................................................................................................737
The Half Dollar In The Bottle Ralph De Shong, Courtesy The Bat....................738


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The Magic Mint.......................................................................................................744
Biting a Piece From a Coin Gene Gordon.............................................................747
Coin Through a Card (The Folding Quarter) Dave Coleman.............................751
   Chapter XIII Stage Coin Magic...........................755
A Comedy Coin Routine--Dave Coleman..............................................................756
Coin in the Banana..................................................................................................766
Coin in Ball of Wool and Nest of Boxes.................................................................769
Flight Three Glenn Harrison..................................................................................778
   Chapter XIV The Miser's Dream..........................783
Production of Any Number of Coins at Finger Tips.............................................805
To Pass a Coin Through the Knees........................................................................808
The Elusive Pass.......................................................................................................810
New Change-Over Palm..........................................................................................812
Downs' New "Click" Pass.......................................................................................814
Downs' New Fan Pass..............................................................................................818
The Downs' Eureka Pass.........................................................................................819
The "Turnover" With Forty Coins........................................................................820
To Palm And Make The Pass With Forty Coins...................................................822
The Miser's Dream Glenn Harrison......................................................................825
The Miser's Dream M. S. Whitford's Version.......................................................834
A Miser's Dream Routine Jack Makepeace..........................................................840
Perpetual Coins Harry Bernard Courtesy The Linking Ring.............................843
   Chapter XV The Stanley Collins Section..............846
T. Nelson Downs.......................................................................................................847
William J. Hilliar.....................................................................................................848
L'homme Masqué....................................................................................................849
Allan Shaw................................................................................................................850
Owen Clark..............................................................................................................852
Charles Morritt........................................................................................................854
Three Coin Monte....................................................................................................858
The Jumping Sixpence............................................................................................861
The Esscee Half-Crown and Wafers Trick............................................................863
Two Heads and a Tail..............................................................................................866
The Esscee Front and Back Manipulation............................................................868
   Chapter XVI Routines.........................................870
Routine No. 1 With a Single Coin...........................................................................871
Routine No. 2 With a Single Coin...........................................................................872
Routine No. 3 With a Single Coin...........................................................................873
Routine No. 4............................................................................................................875
Routine No. 5............................................................................................................877
Routine No. 6............................................................................................................879
Routine No. 7............................................................................................................880

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Routine No. 8............................................................................................................881
Routine No. 9............................................................................................................883
Routine No. 10..........................................................................................................885
Routine No. 11..........................................................................................................888
Routine No. 12..........................................................................................................889
Routine No. 13..........................................................................................................891
Routine No. 14 Milton Kort....................................................................................892
Routine No. 15: Too Many Coins Milton Kort......................................................895
Routine No. 16 Rolland Hamblen..........................................................................898
Routine No. 17: Specious Specie J. G. Thompson, Jr...........................................901
Part II........................................................................................................................906




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PREFACE
THE purpose of this volume is to present to the magical
fraternity a complete treatise on sleight of hand coin
conjuring. Little has been written on the subject, and much
of that is scattered throughout dozens of books and
magazines. Because of this, it has been difficult for the
student to obtain all the information necessary to his
becoming a proficient coin worker. This deficiency in
magical literature has long been recognized, but little has
been done about it. In recent years there have appeared a
few books devoted partly to coin magic but none has filled
the necessary need adequately.

The actual work on this book began over two and a half
years ago with the collecting of material. I contacted
dozens of magicians noted for their ability as close-up
workers and, with few exceptions, all complied
enthusiastically by contributing choice material. The result
of combining the contributions of four dozen magicians
with my own is the book you now hold in your hands.

Of course, not all the material in this book is new. It is not
intended to be. The purpose, as mentioned in the
beginning, is to cover the subject of sleight of hand coin
magic in all its practical aspects. To do this it has been
necessary to include many of the standard principles of the
past. However, all out-of-date or otherwise impractical
sleights have been eliminated. Only the best and most
useful have been retained. To these basic principles have
been added many new and revolutionary ideas, all of which
should give the student a conception of coin magic hitherto
unknown.



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The best coin tricks require skill, but there are few
magicians today who are willing to spend the necessary
time and practice obtaining that skill. Jean Hugard
summarized his opinion on the subject well when he said,
"There is an unfortunate trend among those who dabble in
magic, and even those who rate themselves as magicians,
to avoid anything that requires a little study and practice
and to rely on tricks that work themselves, tricks 'that can
be done five minutes after you receive them,' as we see
advertised so often."

Of all the branches of magic none is so practical as the
manipulation of coins. Coins are always available. If a
magician can do a few coin tricks he is always prepared to
entertain. If he does not possess this ability, and has to
rely on mechanical gadgets, there will be times when he
will have to embarrassingly shun a request for a few tricks
by saying, "I don't have anything with me." People will
wonder who is the magician--you, or your apparatus. A
mastery of coin magic will give anyone an invaluable asset
that can be put to practical use every day of the year.

Learning the moves of tricks and sleights is not enough.
They should be practiced over and over, dozens of times,
so that you can do them automatically, without thinking.
Only then will you be able to give your attention to
presentation, patter, misdirection, and all those things that
have so much to do with making a magician a success. The
secret workings of a trick are only a means to an end.

A well-presented trick is like a beautiful piece of music--
audiences never tire of it. I have seen Blackstone perform
the Dancing Handkerchief dozens of times but I always
enjoy seeing it again. And Le Paul with his beautiful card
magic. Who could tire of watching him! And so it is with all


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good entertainers--they are masters of their art and people
always welcome the opportunity of seeing them again and
again. And if it be your desire to master this art, take
heart; for 'No man is his crafts' master the first day.'
J.B. BoboTexarkana, TexasFebruary 1952
J. B. BOBO




Bobo's Coin Magic   Presented by www.learnmagictricks.org   Page 12
The Advertisement read:
A handkerchief is opened flat on a table and an ordinary
wooden match is placed in the center and the handkerchief
folded up and handed to a spectator who feels the match
and breaks it into several pieces. The handkerchief is
placed on the table and unfolded, and the match is seen to
be fully restored, unbroken. Easy to present anywhere.
Price 10¢.

THIS was a mystery beyond compare to a boy of thirteen,
and the dime that was mailed brought not only the secret
of The Unbreakable Match but a small, thin paper catalog
that illustrated other mysteries that dazzled the
imagination and hinted of secret powers that any boy
might possess who was able to meet the heavy financial
obligations involved. And so the secrets followed as rapidly
as capital could be raised by odd-job procurement. It's a
familiar story to all magicians. It was either the
advertisement or the actual witnessing of a magic show
that aroused and crystallized into action that glorious
curiosity in the unbelievable, the supernatural and the
impossible that enters into the making of a magician. And
so The Unbreakable Match started young Bobo on a career
in magic that has herewith culminated in this book
depicting his curiosity in the specialty of coin magic.

Bobo's background is international. His great grandfather,
Jean Beaubeaux, immigrated to America after the
disastrous Franco-Prussian war, but his new found
neighbors never called him by name for the simple reason
that they could not pronounce it. So in desperation,
Monsieur Beaubeaux changed the spelling of his name to
Bobo, the way it was pronounced in French. Bobo was born
in Texarkana, Texas, in 1910, but the family moved to


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Ontario, Canada, and ere he was twelve years old, the
Johnson Smith mail order catalog arrived, packed in small
type with a wonderland of household and shop gadgets and
all the gaudy allurements of Fourth of July celebrations,
Halloween pranks and carnival entertainment, including
that amazing section on Magic that first opened the door to
the satisfaction of that 'glorious curiosity in the impossible.'
Bobo's father operated a restaurant in Windsor, Canada,
across the river from Detroit, and Saturday nights found
the young Bobo crossing on the ferry to witness the
wonderments of Laurant, The Great Leon and Thurston,
though he never saw Houdini. The restaurant was a
rendezvous too for show people and drummers who
displayed the wit and gags of the road, including such
'startlers' as the paper balls under the hat which young
Bobo added to his rapidly expanding repertoire.

"My first performance was at an amateur show at the
Windsor Theater," writes Bobo, "and if memory hasn't
failed me, I got the hook, I was so scared." But persistency
prevailed and skills improved thanks to the arrival of The
Tarbell Course at the age of sixteen. "The Course taught
me my first real magic, for with the Course came a metal
box beneath whose padlock were contained the essential
gimmicks of a new world of wonders, the thumb tip, the
wand shell and the pull, and numerous other shortcuts to
the supernatural."

High school days were over, the family had returned to
Texas and a career had to be entered, which happened to
be as a carpenter at the bench, making kitchen cabinets
for a dollar a day. It was a princely income, and it went for
magic. After two years Bobo had learned that his eyes
were worth more than his hands and he became a free
lance window display decorator, splashing merchandise


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weekly in a hardware store, a department store and nine
windows for the J. C. Penney Company. He was also
booked as 'The Great Bobo' at churches, schools and
charity dates for his standard minimum fee of three dollars
a show. Fancy apparatus was too expensive, and Bobo
depended upon sleight of hand with cards, thimbles and
coins, and closed with a handcuff escape, the Bean cuffs.

Experience as a window display showman as well as the
church and school dates soon led to club dates, and here
the price jumped to five dollars per show, "which was a lot
of money in those days." The extra income could mean
only one thing: 'Illusions' must be added to the show, and
so Sawing a Woman In Two was papered all over town. He
faithfully pursued The Tarbell Course as the lessons came
month by month, practicing two hours a day on each
lesson for six months to perfect a routine before presenting
it.

And then the big break came, his reward for years of
patience and persistency, his first contract for a lyceum
booking. On the recommendation of Percy Abbott, the
magic manufacturer of Colon, Michigan, Bobo was accepted
as a substitute for Harold Sterling and went on the road for
one hundred and twenty-five dollars a week. He was out
for the fall season, September to December, in the Rocky
Mountain region for The Grapham Music ge Lyceum
Bureau, giving school and college shows throughout
Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. The school
houses were so small it was known as the 'Kerosene Lamp'
circuit. A charming assistant was now added to the
performance who was soon transformed into Mrs. Bobo.

Bobo's schedule now is thirty-five weeks a year. He says
his steady booking is a simple system. "If whistle stops


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want magic, I give it to them at a smaller fee, as the
jumps are short and booking is continuous." He has
learned in his close-up experience in the smaller school
and college auditoriums that this type of audience
appreciates a sleight of hand show over an apparatus show
because they know that the latter type show means 'trick
boxes.' Then, too, there are other advantages in playing
the smaller towns. Lyceum and school audiences are of a
higher intelligence and appreciate a more cultured show,
where success is not dependent upon wisecracks or
doubtful humor to get laughs.

Bobo's interest in coin magic began when a medicine-show
magician taught him The Sympathetic Coins, with pennies.
That was long ago-soon after he had acquired proficiency
in presenting The Unbreakable Match. Sleight of hand
always fascinated him--probably because, as he explains,
"I am one of those fellows who enjoys working with his
hands--learning crafts and skills that require delicacy of
touch    challenges    me.     Painting,   cabinet  making,
photography -even just 'making things'--provide my chief
sources of enjoyment. Coin magic requires skill, but no
magic appears so spontaneous, so "spur-of-the-moment"
to an audience. Coin tricks are of a visual nature--they are
"sight tricks" and audiences like tricks that require little
concentration. Money always fascinates people, and magic
with money is doubly fascinating. Even the jingle and
clinking together of coins is fascinating. Our shows always
feature coin tricks. People admire and appreciate skill-coin
magic impresses them as magic requiring skill."

"Bobo has extraordinary qualifications for the task of
producing a book on coin magic," says John Mulholland,
Editor of The Sphinx. "He has a canny understanding of the
magic the public likes and he selects only such effects for


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his performances as have genuine appeal. His high
reputation as a professional magician has been earned by
his delightfully entertaining performances. Both his
mastery of magic and his knowledge of audiences he
brings into the field of coin magic which long has been his
favorite branch of trickery. Mysteries with coins have
intrigued him for many years and he has spew. a great
deal of time and enthusiastic energy collecting, devising,
and mastering coin tricks."

This book is the result of Bobo's fascination with the magic
of coins. The tricks have been gathered, mastered, tested,
catalogued, and filed away like a collection of precious
stones, and it has taken many years to get this collection
together. Here are superb examples of the art of pure
sleight of hand--magic with coins--and magicians the world
over will be grateful to Bobo for presenting to the fraternity
his splendid collection of coin tricks.




Bobo's Coin Magic   Presented by www.learnmagictricks.org   Page 17
Acknowledgments
MOST of the material in this book, including my own, is
based on accumulated research, ideas, and effects of other
magicians. Directly or indirectly, I am therefore indebted to
all coin workers.

An honest effort has been made to credit the source of all
material as accurately as possible, but slips may have crept
in. If I have failed to recognize the originator of any idea,
sleight, trick or move in the following pages, I hereby offer
my most humble apologies.

I owe thanks to all my contributors, but more especially to
Milton Kort. Although not so well known as he should be,
he is one of the most modemminded and practical of our
present day sleight of hand artists. He gave unstintingly of
his time to help whenever I needed it. A generous
sprinkling of his genius will be found throughout the book.

I also acknowledge with gratitude the assistance of
numerous persons who helped me in gathering and
preparing material for this volume. J. G. Thompson, Jr. was
responsible for several effects other than his own
contributions. Dr. E. M. Roberts's revolutionary sleeving
technique and the tricks therewith should be an
inexhaustible source of ideas for years to come.

Stanley Collins has rendered the magical fraternity a great
service in setting down his recollections of great coin
manipulators of the past, together with some of their
almost-forgotten tricks.
I am deeply grateful for the invaluable assistance given me
by my good friend John Braun in editing the material,
making suggestions, and for his work on Chapter XIV. He

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deserves much credit for any success this book might
receive.

Finally, I want to thank Carl W. Jones for putting my words
into printed form. As a Publisher of Magic, his record for
outstanding books is well known to all magicians. May this
one prove a delight to all!




Bobo's Coin Magic   Presented by www.learnmagictricks.org   Page 19
Prologue--Of Coins and Conjuring

ARCHAEOLOGISTS and numismatists tell us that the first
coins were issued in the east and west in the eight century
B.C., and their use soon spread over the civilized world. An
ancient tradition has it that coinage was the invention of
Pheidon, king of Argos. By the end of the sixth century
B.C., the art of coinage had been well established, and
Periander had instituted the Corinthian coinage which
became one of the great commercial coinages of the world.
Electrum (a natural mixture of gold and silver), gold, silver,
copper and bronze were the metals coined then, as today,
and the oval shaped staters of Lydia, circa 75ø B.C., are
the earliest examples of the art of coining. By 480 B.C.
coins were round, and had become objects of considerable
beauty. Many of them were small, but most ranged in size
from that of our quarter to our dollar, sizes ideally suited
for the purposes of conjuring.

It is at this point that the archaeologists and numismatists
fail us completely, for they shed no light upon the earliest
use of coins in conjuring. They do tell us the ancient
Greeks called the conjurer psephopaiktes, from the pebbles
which he used, and that the Romans styled him the
calcularius, or acetabularius, from the little stones and
cups, respectively. And they have unearthed papyri and
inscriptions on tombs depicting the cup and ball conjurers
of ancient Egypt. However, we are entirely within the
bounds of probability when we assume that these precious
and artistically designed bits of metal early fired the
imaginations of the cup and ball conjurers, and we can
safely place the entrance of the coin into conjuring at full
two thousand years before the advent of the Master of the
Playing Card and his gift to the magician.

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The feats with coins described by Reginald Scot in 1584 in
his Discouverie of Witchcraft were undoubtedly of ancient
vintage in that day, and might well have been devised by
the conjurers of the eighth century B.C. Scot defined
"legierdemaine" as "the nimble conveiance of the hand,
which is especiallie performed three waies. The first and
principall consisteth in hiding and conveieng of balles, the
second in the alteration of monie, the third in the shuffling
of the cards.... The conveieng of monie is not much inferior
to the. ball, but much easier to doo. The principall place to
keepe a peece of monie is the palme of your hand, the best
peece to keepe is a testor; but with exercise all will be
alike, except the mony be verie small, and then it is to be
kept betwixt the fingers.... "The tricks described by Scot
are used to this very day, and the plots are recognizable
from his quaintly worded titles:
"To conveie monie out of one of your hands into the other
by legierdemaine; To convert or transubstantiate monie
into counters, or counters into monie; To put one testor
into one hand, and an other into the other hand, and with
words to bring them together; To put one testor into a
strangers hand, and another into your owne, and to
conveie both into the strangers hand with words; To throw
a peece of monie awaie, and to find it againe where you
list; With words to make a groat or a testor to leape out of
a pot, or to run alongst upon a table; To make a groat or a
testor to sinke through a table, and to vanish out of a
handkercher verie strangelie; A notable tricke to
transforme a counter to a groat (the double faced coin
consisting of two coins filed thin and joined so the groat
showed on one side and the counter on the other); An
excellent feat, to make a two penie peece lie plaine in the
palme of your hand, and to be passed from thence when
you list; To conveie a testor out of ones hand that holdeth


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it fast; To throw a peece of monie into a deepe pond, and
to fetch it againe from whence you list; To conveie one
shilling being in one hand into another, holding your arms
spread abroad like a rood."

In 1634, Hocus Pocus Junior appeared with another trick
still used today-"How to make a pile of Counters seem to
vanish thorow a Table." This is the Cap and Pence trick, or
the Stack of Quarters, or whatever you will, and the
making of the shell stack of counters is clearly set forth.
The patter, unmistakably Elizabethan, would be frowned
upon today. Another trick described is "How to seem
suddenly to melt a peice of Coin with words." Required is a
small metal box with the bottom in the center and a lid on
each end, so that either end can be opened to show a
transformation or vanish--even        an appearance-the
ancestor of the modern coin box. The eighteenth century
seems to have , advanced coin magic but little. A rhymed
account of a visit to Bartholomew Fair in 1717 contains
these lines:
"The large Half-Crown his magick Jaws can blow Unseen,
unfelt, into the Sleeve of Beau;"

This seems to be the Flying Half-Crown trick with which the
French conjurer Ollivier made a reputation almost a
century later, and stems undoubtedly from the trick
described by Scot "To throw a peece of monie awaie and to
find it again where you list."

Jean Nicholas Ponsin's Nouvelle Magie blanche dévoilée
(1853) contains a more complete section on coin magic
than had firstly appeared in any book. He lists three
different methods for vanishing coins and describes thirty
tricks, which include two multiplications of coins or
counters in the hands of a spectator; the passage of a coin


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through a table; the flying coin as performedby the elder
Conus and Ollivier; a palm change for changing a coin
before the eyes of a spectator; the flying coins in the
handkerchief, the first version of the Magical Filtration of
Five-Franc Pieces, which L'Homme Masqu‚ used in 1905 as
The Expansion of Texture; another flying coin trick in a
handkerchief, which is the well known trick of the Coin and
Burnt and Restored Handkerchief; and the multiplication of
coins in a spectators' hand by means of the money plate or
coin tray.
When Robert-Houdin published his Les Secrets de la
Prestidigitation et de la Magie in 1868, we find, for the first
time in any language, the principles of coin conjuring
properly explained--the various methods of palming,
vanishing and changing the coins, then the tricks. The
Melting Coin, The Flying Coins, The Shower of Money (the
Miser's Dream, using a top hat!), The Multiplication of
Money, The Magical Filtration of Five-Franc Pieces, The
Intelligent Coin, The Coins and the Two Hats, and The
Golden Coin in a Dinner Roll-all of them magic of the
purest kind, just as sound today as they were a hundred
years ago. Step by step Houdin instructed in the essentials
of the craft--the sleights, preparation, patter and
sequence--leaving out none of the subtleties, artifices and
manipulations which constitute the art of conjuring. Each
trick was a complete lesson, and his book remains one of
the best ever written upon the subject. That he did not
describe all the coin tricks current in his day he admits,
saying "I have selected some of the best, which will serve
as specimens whereby lovers of the art may arrange others
at their pleasure, making use of the principles laid down at
the outset of this chapter."

Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann in 2876 drew heavily
upon RobertHoudin's treatise, and added to the conjurer's


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aides such stalwarts as the coin wand, or wand for
producing a coin, and the rattle box. In The Shower of
Money (Miser's Dream) detailed instructions are given for
passing a coin through the side or the crown of the hat,
and the use of the coin slide, a form of coin dropper for
delivering coins into the hand, is advocated. Also, it is
suggested that a few coins be caught on the coin wand.

More Magic (Professor Hoffmann, 1890) acquaints us with
the folding coin and the trick of passing a coin into "an
ordinary narrow-necked bottle." And in "Multiplying Coins
and Tricks Therewith," the multiplying coin is the familiar
shell which fits over a coin. Both are popular items today.
Professor , Hoffmann himself seems to have been the
inventor of a "passe passe" effect in which two covers and
eight coins, two of which are shell and coin "doubles," are
used. This trick has gone through countless variations over
the years, and at one time was included in most "boxes of
tricks."

The great innovator in coin magic, T. Nelson Downs,
presented his famous coin act for the first time in 1895 at
the Hopkins Theatre in Chicago. To Downs is credited the
invention of the back and front palm with coins, and many
other sleights and passes that produced the astonishing
effects which made his version of The Miser's Dream the
sensation of the vaudeville world, and established him
"King of Koins" in spite of a host of imitators. Downs may
truly be called the originator of modern coin manipulation;
his book, Modern Coin Manipulation (1900), established the
fashion for coin magicians for the first quarter of this
century. It has remained until today the only book in the
English language devoted entirely to coins, and in it are
disclosed the sleights and passes that enabled the "King of
Koins" to reign supreme as a vaudeville favorite both here


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and abroad.

But even as the "King of Koins" went triumphantly from
engagement to engagement, the inventive and restless
minds of the world's hanky panky men were evolving new
bits of coin chicanery. The best of it was acquired by the
"King" and set down for us in The Art of Magic, another
great book bearing his name as author, and John N.
Hilliard's as editor. In this book, which made its appearance
in 1909, we find, among other good things, the Downs
thumb crotch palm, the coin roll, The Sympathetic Coins
(attributed to Yank Hoe), The Expansion of Texture by
L'Homme Masque, and a number of other useful subtleties.
The magic of the twentieth century has been greatly
influenced by this man from Iowa, whose inventions have
stamped him one of the magical giants of his time. Other
clever minds have taken up where he left off, and explored
the vistas he opened for them, to provide you with the
wealth of coin magic you will find collected here.

From the eighth century B.C. to the middle of the twentieth
century, a long procession--nay, pageant-of magical
craftsmen has contributed to this book of coin magic. As
John Northern Hilliard said, "A panorama of civilization. A
glorious and sordid pageant, like history itself." May the
collected coin magic of these worshippers of the Goddess
Maja, to which J. B. Bobo has devoted so much of his
magical life, give you pleasure and serve you well!




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Bibliography
Sachs' Sleight of Hand. (1877) 1946. pp. 6-51.
Downs' Modern Coin Manipulation. 1900.
Downs' The Art of Magic. 1909. pp. 227-260.
Gaultier's Magic Without Apparatus. (1914) 1945- PP- 249-
358.
Hilliard's Greater Magic. 1938. pp. 665-72o.
Hugard's Modern Magic Manual. 1939. pp. 7-21.
Tarbell Course in Magic. 1941. Vol. a. pp. 63-115.
Buckley's Principles and Deceptions. 1948.




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MonieScot's Discouverie of Witchcraft,
 1584
"He that hath once atteined to the facilitie of reteining one
piece of monie in his right hand, may shew a hundreth
pleasant Conceipts by that meanes, and reserve two or
three as well as one. And lo then may you seeme to put
one peice into your left hand, and reteining it still in your
right hand, and may togither therewith take up another
like peice, and so with Words seeme to bring both peeces
togither. By this devise (I saie) a hundreth conceipts may
be shewed."




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Chapter I Coin Concealments
The Classic Palm
The Edge Palm
The Thumb Palm
The Downs Palm
The Finger Palm
The Front Finger Hold
The Back Palm
The Back Finger Clip
The Back Thumb Palm




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The Classic Palm




The coin is held in the center of the palm by a contraction
of the muscles at the base of the thumb and little finger,
Fig. 1. It is transferred to, and pressed into this grip by the
tips of the second and third fingers. Several coins may be
held in this manner.

This is one of the most difficult of all concealments to
master but it is one of magic's finest secrets. The layman
cannot imagine it possible to conceal a coin in this way.
The beginner may experience difficulty in retaining a coin
in this position at the outset, but the ability will come with
practice. Once the knack is acquired coins of various sizes
can be retained.

A minimum amount of pressure is sufficient to hold the
coin in place. Too much grip tends to make the hand
appear cramped and tense. A coin is not a heavy object, so
hold it lightly and the hand will appear natural. Actually it
should be held so loosely that a mere tap with the other
hand will dislodge it.

An important point to remember is that no one is misled
because the fingers are apart. Only when the hand looks


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