The Magic Coin
Copyright © 1994 by Ron Bauer

I can still recall, but can't describe, the excitement I felt the day I read "Nickle Head" by Charles Smith in The New Phoenix #318. I was in high school at the time. The idea was absurd and incongruous (and "nickel" was spelled incorrectly!). But the effect was visual and direct: You make a nickel stick on your forehead! Big deal! Then you show how you did it - there's a nail protruding from the coin! Ouch!

It turned out to be a real eye-popper to my peers, family, teachers, even other magicians. Most would scoff until the surprise ending. It didn't fool anyone ... it was just great fun.

In college, however, when I had my first experiences performing close-up magic at parties, I noticed a problem with the payoff. Sometimes, depending on the size of the audience, not everyone got the ending at the same time.

In 1959, while working close-up magic at the Kenwood Club in Detroit, I worked out a way to focus the attention of the entire audience on the revelation of the nail on the back of the nickel.

I'd pull the nickel from my forehead with my right fingers, then place it FLAT on the fingers of my palm up left hand. Now, everyone could clearly see the nickel. Slowly, I'd turn it over to reveal the nail on the back. Everyone saw the payoff at the same time.

Don Alan dropped by the Kenwood in the early sixties, and I showed him the handling. He offered to trade my handling for a great patter line. Here is the line, which you guilelessly utter while proudly displaying the nickel attached to your forehead: "It's handy if you're ever stuck at a parking meter, and don't have any change." We traded. (Note from J.L.: This is the method, along with Don's line, that Ron showed me.)

In the mid-seventies, inflation and the ever-rising cost of living forced me to upgrade from a nickel to a quarter. Also, I worked out a "no-switch" method for doing the trick. Shortly after that I replaced the quarter - no, not with a half dollar - but with a Magic Coin.

I call the method "no-switch" because I only use one coin. Originally, a nickel stuck to the forehead was switched for a nickel with a nail soldered to its backside. That coin was (and is) the well-known "floor nickel" novelty, the original joke being to hammer the coin into the floor so that anyone trying to pick it up would break their fingernails (or maybe, even, their fingers). Who knows? It is not particularly funny. (Note: The new and improved Floor Nickel now being sold is slightly different in construction.)

Required Materials And Props:

• A "Magic Immortals" palming coin. This coin is ideal because it is larger than a nickel or a quarter and it is lightweight.
• A 7/8 inch roofing nail.
• Magician's Wax.

PREPARATION:

On the back of the "Magic Immortals" palming coin is a hand holding a fan of cards. I recommend you color the cards white, the pips black and red (where appropriate) and the hand pink or brown and then outline the hand and cards in black. Artist Sandra Kort colored mine using acrylic paints.

Cover the flat head of the roofing nail with a generous blob of Magician's Wax. If you need a good wax, try the stuff on the back of an "E-Z-UP CLIP." These are plastic clips for hanging memos and other papers on surfaces and they can be found in most large office supply stores.

Drop the waxed nail into your left pocket and the Magic Coin into your right pocket. NOTE: For carrying the nail around in your pocket, press a square of wax paper (or plastic wrap) against the wax. You can easily peel off this paper with one hand.

PROCEDURE:

Just before beginning your performance, secretly get the nail. Clip it between your left second and ring ringers at their base with the head of the nail inside the hand. By loosely curling your fingers, the nail won't be noticed.

"People wonder where magicians get their tricks. Mostly, we buy them from magic shops. Would you like to see the very first magic trick I ever bought in a magic shop? I haven't performed it since my grammar school days."

1. Remove the Magic Coin from your right pocket, but don't show it freely. Deliberately hold it as though you are trying to hide something. Actually, you're hiding the fact that there's nothing wrong with it! Hold it cupped in your fingers as you show the fan of cards side.

"It's called THE MAGIC COIN trick!"

2. With both hands, press the coin against the center of your forehead - card fan side out - so that it sticks. Merely pressing it firmly and sliding it upwards slightly will do the trick. (Note: Since this coin will probably have some residual wax on its back from practice sessions, the sticking process will be no problem.)

"It just takes a moment, and ..."

3. Lower your left hand, then raise your head as you lower your right fingers to reveal the coin stuck to your forehead.

"... there! Pretty amazing, huh? Well, I suppose it would make more senses to stick a quarter up there. A quarter would be handy in a phone booth or at a parking meter if I ran out of change!" (See, I STILL use that line!)

4. Pose long enough for the audience to wonder why you're doing this dumb trick. That won't be long!

"I realize that most people know there's some trick to these things anyway. So, I don't mind showing you how this one works."

5. Reach up with your right hand and grip the coin by its edges with your thumb and fingers. Bow your head, and, raising your cupped left hand to about chin level, carefully pull the coin from your forehead. Be sure to screen the coin from your audience with your fingers. Then, place it directly onto the waxed head of the nail in your left hand. Immediately let go of the coin with your right fingers, raising your right fingers to your forehead.

"Is there a mark?"

6. Direct this rhetorical question to one spectator as you touch and rub a finger against the imaginary spot of attachment for a moment as if checking for damage or residue. During this misdirection, relax and lower your slightly cupped left hand to about waist level so you can secretly press the coin firmly against the waxed head of the nail.

"Sometimes it leaves a mark."

7. As you remove your right fingers from your forehead, raise your left hand to a palm upward display of the coin apparently lying flat on your fingers. Actually, the nail shaft is hidden between your fingers.

"Of course, this is a very simple trick. And, no, the secret is not my animal magnetism. That's not it. I mean, a little kid couldn't do it if it wasn't simple. You see, it's a special coin. On its back is a gimmick!"

8. With your right fingers, grip an edge of the coin, and slowly turn it over onto your left fingers. Display it in front of you so all can see the nail.

After the reaction, as you put away the Magic Coin, say: "Learning magic back in my day took nerve . . . and a very hard head!" or "For revealing this guarded secret of the magic art, you probably think I have a hole in my head!" or "Are you sure it didn't leave a mark?"

The use of the Magic Coin has proven far more effective than either the nickel or the quarter. Possibly because of the added dark humor of a kid being sold such a horrific magic trick.

I've been waiting for years for someone to insist on telling me how the trick works. But, after a thousand chances, not one spectator has ever asked to examine the nail on the back of the coin. Too bad as I am prepared to say: "O.K., you got me. I don't really jam a roofing nail into my skull!" I'd say it in a polite way, of course.

Copyright © 1994 by Ron Bauer