CHAPTER VII.
Tricks with Coin without Apparatus.
There is an immense variety of tricks with coin—some with apparatus, some without; some demanding a thorough mastery of sleight-of-hand; some so simple as to be within the compass of the merest tyro. The only classification which we shall attempt will be to divide them into such as do and such as do not require special apparatus.
A Florin being spun upon the Table, to tell blindfold whether it falls head or tail upwards.—You borrow a florin, and spin it, or invite some other person to spin it, on the table (which must be without a cloth). You allow it to spin itself out, and immediately announce, without seeing it, whether it has fallen head or tail upwards. This may be repeated any number of times with the same result, though you may be blindfolded, and placed at the further end of the apartment.
The secret lies in the use of a florin of your own, on one face of which (say on the “tail” side) you have cut at the extreme edge a little notch, thereby causing a minute point or tooth of metal to project from that side of the coin. If a coin so prepared be spun on the table, and should chance to go down with the notched side upwards, it will run down like an ordinary coin, with a long continuous “whirr,” the sound growing fainter and fainter till it finally ceases; but if it should run down with the notched side downwards, the friction of the point against the table will reduce this final whirr to half its ordinary length, and the coin will finally go down with a sort of “flop.” The difference of sound is not sufficiently marked to attract the notice of the spectators, but is perfectly distinguishable by an attentive ear. If, therefore, you have notched the coin on the “tail” side, and it runs down slowly, you will cry “tail;” if quickly, “head.”
If you professedly use a borrowed florin, you must adroitly change it for your own, under pretence of showing how to spin it, or the like.
You should not allow your audience to imagine that you are guided by the sound of the coin, as, if once they have the clue, they will easily learn to distinguish the two sounds. They are not, however, likely to discover the secret of the notch, and if any one professes to have found out the trick, you may, by again substituting an unprepared florin, safely challenge him to perform it.
Odd or Even, or the Mysterious Addition.—This is a trick of almost childish simplicity, depending upon an elementary arithmetical principle. We have, however, known it to occasion great perplexity, even to more than ordinarily acute persons.
You take a handful of coins or counters, and invite another person to do the same, and to ascertain privately whether the number he has taken is odd or even. You request the company to observe that you have not asked him a single question, but that you are able, notwithstanding, to divine and counteract his most secret intentions, and that you will in proof of this, yourself take a number of coins, and add them to those he has taken, when, if his number was odd, the total shall be even; if his number was even, the total shall be odd. Requesting him to drop the coins he holds into a hat, held on high by one of the company, you drop in a certain number on your own account. He is now asked whether his number was odd or even; and, the coins being counted, the total number proves to be, as you stated, exactly the reverse. The experiment is tried again and again, with different numbers, but the result is the same.
The secret lies in the simple arithmetical fact, that if you add an odd number to an even number the result will be odd; if you add an odd number to an odd number the result will be even. You have only to take care, therefore, that the number you yourself add, whether large or small, shall always be odd.
To change a Florin into a Penny, back again, and then to pass the same invisibly into the pocket of the owner.—This is a trick of genuine sleight-of-hand, and will test your expertness in two or three different passes. Having beforehand palmed a penny in your right hand, you borrow from one of the company a florin (or half-crown), requesting the owner to mark it in such manner that he may be able to identify it. Make him stand up facing you, your own right side and his left being towards the audience. Taking the marked florin between the fingers and thumb of the right hand (the back of which, from your position, will be toward the spectators), you ask him whether he is nervous, whether he can hold fast, and so on. On receiving satisfactory replies, you state that you are about to put him to the test, and request him to hold out his right hand, telling him that you are about to count three, and that at the word “three” you will drop the florin into his hand, which he is to close tightly upon it. You accordingly count, “One! two! three!” each time making a motion as of dropping the florin into his hand, and at the word “three” actually do drop it, when he closes his hand upon it, as directed; but you are not satisfied. “That won’t do, my dear sir,” you exclaim; “you are not half quick enough—you allow all the electric fluid to escape. We’ll try once more, and pray be a little quicker in your movements. Oblige me with the coin again. Now, then, are you ready?—One! two!! THREE!!!” giving the words with great energy. As you say “three” you stamp your foot, and apparently again drop the florin, but really drop the penny instead, by Change 3. He is sure this time to close his hand very quickly, and, having no reason to the contrary, naturally believes that it is the florin which he holds, your previous feint, when you did actually drop the florin, being specially designed to lead him to that conclusion. You next request him to hold the closed hand high, that all may see it. This draws the general attention to him, and away from yourself, and enables you to place in your palm the florin, which was left, after the change, in the bend of your right thumb. You continue, “You did better that time, sir. Now, what will you bet me that I cannot take that two-shilling-piece out of your hand without your knowing it?” Whether he admits or defies your power, the course of the trick is the same. “Well,” you say at last, “you seem so determined that I am almost afraid to take the whole of the two-shilling piece away from you, I think I must be content with one-and-elevenpence. Allow me to touch your hand with my wand.” You do so, and on opening his hand he discovers that the two-shilling piece has changed into a penny.