Fig. 7.
(The dotted line represents the coin palmed in the right hand.)
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
(b) Have a coin palmed in the left hand, and borrow a similar one from the audience, and have it well marked (always have coins marked where possible, "to prevent changing"). Make a movement as though you placed the marked coin in the left hand, but in reality palm it. At the same time, open the left hand, and the coin that has been snugly concealed there will look as if it had just left the right hand. By this means a change is effected which you can utilise according to circumstances. By fidgeting about among the audience, you may be able to place the marked coin under one of them; the other coin being held by someone who is directed to hold it "very high, sir, very high, so that everyone can see it"—the real object being to keep him from examining it too closely. By standing the holder of the coin on a chair, an opportunity for slipping the palmed coin into his pocket presents itself, and should be taken advantage of. The marked coin being once safely hidden, it is an easy matter to palm the unmarked one (which, of course, the audience has been led to believe is the marked one) and make it "pass" invisibly to wherever the other may be. The conjuror's own coin should always be provided with a very distinct mark—a cross is invariably a safe one to employ—as it is rarely that one meets with people who can refrain from instituting an illicit investigation so soon as the conjuror's back is turned. When the holder of the coin is seen to be surreptitiously examining it for the mark, the conjuror should not prevent him, but call the attention of the audience to the fact, and ask if the mark be visible. The holder, seeing the cross, will answer in the affirmative; he not being aware, of course, that the borrowed coin was possibly marked with a very different sign. This incident will add to the effectiveness of the trick.
In tricks [a] and [b] the wand will be found very useful. It should always be carried under the arm, after the manner in which soldiers carry their canes; and when any palm has been effected, and the coin has to remain concealed in the hand, the wand should be taken in the hand containing the coin. Beginners, especially, will find this of great assistance, as in the case of a somewhat defective palm the coin can be pressed well home by clenching the wand hard. Besides this, the fact of carrying a wand in the hand keeps the idea of the coin being there from the minds of the audience; and the mind is what the conjuror has to deceive.
(c) Have a coin palmed in the right hand ([Palm No. 2]), and procure a similar one, marked, which hold up to the audience by the left hand. Pretend to take it in the right, but let it fall into the hollow of the left hand ([Figs. 8] and [9]); the unmarked coin in the right hand being exhibited. In order to effect this daring change naturally and without detection, the thumb of the right hand must be passed through the ring formed by the thumb and forefinger of the left and the coin held between them, and the fingers closed well over the coin, which will appear to be grasped by them. Now place the left hand under the table, the right hand remaining above. Covered by the action of bringing it on the table, execute [Palm No. 1] with the right hand, but keep the fingers formed as though they still held the coin, which you then pretend to lay on the table with a sharp "click." This "click" is made by the coin in the left hand, under the table, in order that the illusion may be perfect. The right hand will then affect to rub the coin through the table, and eventually the one in the left hand, which has in reality never been out of it, will be produced. The noise of rubbing is also made by the coin under the table, only it must not be continued too long; and care must be taken that the two hands act in perfect unison, as it will not do for the noise to continue when the action of rubbing with the right hand has ceased. This trick is not so difficult as it looks on paper, and is very effective. The whole trick consists in pretending to take the marked coin from the fingers of the left hand without doing so.