Used with the box is a thin disc of wood corresponding to that of which the box is made. This is of such diameter as to fall easily from the one well into the other, according to the way in which the box is turned, but on the other hand fits so closely within that its presence or absence is not perceptible to sight. If a coin be laid in the box upon the disc and the box is then closed and turned over, the disc settles down over the coin in the opposite half, either leaving the box apparently empty or exhibiting in place of the original coin a substitute with which the opposite side of the box has been previously loaded.
Fig. 14
Thus far, as the reader will doubtless have perceived, the effect produced (save that a coin instead of a card is dealt with) is precisely the same as in the case of the card-box. But the “mascot” has a speciality of its own, in the fact that in that half of the box marked a (see Fig. 14) a horizontal slot is cut on the side opposite to the hinge, just long enough and wide enough to allow the passage of a half-crown. The wood being dead black, this small opening is invisible save to close inspection, which the box is never called upon to undergo.
When it is desired to gain secret possession of a coin lent by one of the company, the lender is invited to place it himself in the box, held open bookwise as in Fig. 14, the side b of the box having been previously loaded with a duplicate coin.
The lender of the coin may place it in whichever side of the box he pleases, but the manner of closing the box will vary accordingly. If he places it in the side a, the opposite (or loaded) side is treated as the lid and turned down over a. In this case, the coin being already in the slotted half, no turn-over of the box is necessary, the performer having merely to allow the coin to slip out into his hand. In the opposite case, viz., that of the coin being placed in b, a is treated as the lid, and the coin being in this case above the disc the box must be turned over before it can be extracted. If preferred the performer can hold the box so that the coin will naturally be placed in b, but in this case the turn-over is unavoidable.
When the box is again opened, the duplicate coin is revealed in place of the original, which is meanwhile dealt with as may be necessary for the purpose of the trick. After the borrowed coin has been extracted, the further fall of the disc closes the slot, and bars any possibility of the substitute coin escaping in the same way.
The following will be found an easy way of working the exchange.
“For the purpose of my next experiment,” says the performer, “I shall have to ask the loan of a half-crown; marked in such a way that you can be sure of knowing it again. I should like one, if possible, that has seen some service, for a coin in the course of circulation imbibes a certain amount of magnetic fluid from each person who handles it; and this renders a well-worn coin more susceptible to magical influences than a new one.”
The reason alleged for asking the loan of an old coin is of course “spoof,” but there is a reason; and it is two-fold. In the first place it ensures your getting a coin tolerably like your own; which you have chosen in accordance with that description, and which you have marked after some commonplace fashion, say with a cross scratched upon one of its faces. Secondly, a well-worn coin, having lost the sharp edge which is caused by the milling in a new one, passes the more easily through the slot, which for obvious reasons is kept as narrow as possible.