Silver and Copper
By Paul N. Rylander

Three copper coins magically change places with three silver coins. The coins pass one at a time in the fairest possible manner. There are no suspicious moves for the sleights are covered by the necessary act of picking up the coins.

This routine will mystify, for it is done sufficiently slowly for the audience to think about it, yet no clue to the solution will be apparent.

Three half dollars are placed in a row on the left side of the table and three English pennies are placed parallel on the right. The coins form two lines extending from the magician to the spectators. Unknown to the audience, the magician has a gimmicked coin palmed in his right hand. This coin is a silver half dollar on one side and a copper English penny on the other. The coin is palmed with the half dollar side against the palm.

To begin the trick the magician uses his right forefinger to draw a mystic circle around the six coins. Then, using both hands, he slowly turns each coin over. With his left forefinger he traces another mystic circle around the coins in the opposite direction. This convinces the most observant spectator that faked coins, such as he has secretly palmed in his right hand, are not used.

The coin in the right hand is dropped to finger palm position in readiness for the key sleight upon which this feat is based. The left hand is extended, palm facing the audience, to receive the three coins which the right hand is about to place there.

The right hand, back to the audience, picks up a half dollar between the thumb and first finger and apparently lays it on the palm of the left hand. In reality it is switched for the gimmicked coin by bending the right forefinger a trifle to raise the half dollar above the gimmicked coin so that they will not clink as they pass. The fingers are tilted downward and, with a slight throwing motion not more than an inch or two, the gimmicked coin is slid off the fingers onto the left palm.

The right forefinger immediately lowers and the right thumb pushes the coin inward to the finger palm position. All this is the work of a second. It should look as if the half dollar were merely picked up and placed in the left palm.

Perhaps it is not exactly correct to say that the coin is in finger palm position. It really lies further forward on the fingers between the first and second joints. The further forward, the less motion is required in changing it.

The other two half dollars are put in the left palm in exactly the same manner except that they are not exchanged. The three coins. over-lapping in a row, are fairly shown on the left palm. then the hand is closed slowly and turned over.

With the ordinary half dollar still lying on the tips of the fingers of the right hand, pick up the three copper coins with the forefinger and thumb. These are dropped on the half dollar so that when the hand is closed into a fist a copper coin is next to the palm ready to be palmed.

The two fists are knocked on the table. Without turning over the hands, open and push the coins onto the table, one from each hand simultaneously. If the left hand lays down its coins from the spectator to the performer, while the right hand lays the coins down in the opposite direction, each silver coin will have a copper coin opposite it, two copper and one silver coin on the left and two silver and one copper on the right. A copper coin is retained in the right palm.

The copper coin is dropped to finger palm position and once more the coins on the left are picked up. The gimmicked coin, copper side showing, is picked up first and switched for the ordinary copper coin as described earlier. It is well to have an identifying mark on both sides of the gimmicked coin so that it may be picked up without hesitation.

Next a silver coin is picked up and actually put in the left palm. The last silver coin is picked up and switched for the gimmicked coin by the above sleight. This time, however, it is necessary to reverse the gimmicked coin as it slides off the fingers. It is easily done by slanting the fingers of both the left and right hands a little more downward and tossing the coin with a trifle more force. The coin reverses when it hits the left fingers. The right hand completely hides the turnover. This move must not look any different than the other, and, indeed, if it is correctly done it does not. The copper coin, the gimmicked silver and the ordinary silver coins are freely displayed. The hand closes and reverses. The right hand. carrying a silver coin fingerpalmed, picks up the silver and two copper coins on the right with a copper coin on top so that it may be palmed when the hand is closed. The fists are knocked on the table, the fingers are opened and the coins slide onto the table two coins at a time, one from each hand. The spectators now see that there are two copper and one silver on the left and two silver and one copper on the right.

There is now but one copper and one silver to change places.

The copper, palmed in the right hand, is dropped to finger palm position. The right hand picks up the gimmicked copper and, in pretending to place it in the left hand, switches it for the ordinary copper coin. Then an ordinary copper in picked up and placed in the left hand. Finally the silver coin is picked up and switched for the gimmicked coin using the turn-over move. The coins in the left hand are stacked with the silver coin on top and held on the fingers. The hand remains open. The coins on the right are picked up so that the copper coin is on top. The pile is stacked evenly and hold in the slightly cupped right fingers. Now comes a bold move. The right hand opens and turns over and displays the coins resting on the fingers. The coins are held as if they were about to he back palmed. Although there are three silver coins in this hand the audience cannot see them due to the slightly cupped position of the fingers. Both stacks of coins should be hold in the same manner.

The performer extends his hands with a remark to the effect that there is but one copper and one silver left to change places. The hands are closed and turned over. The copper in the right hand in palmed and after the mystic pass, the coins are laid down showing all the copper now on the left and all the silver on the right.