Coin gimmick combinations: why magicians mix shells, flippers and magnets

TL;DR: Most strong coin routines use more than one gimmick, mixed with ordinary coins and a few sleights. Combining gimmicks lets one routine have several phases and finish with nothing suspicious in sight. The cost is more to manage: more pieces, more noise and less you can hand out. Master one gimmick with solid sleights first, then add a second only when the first has become invisible.

Why combine coin gimmicks at all?

One gimmick usually gives you one effect. A shell gives you an extra coin, a flipper gives you a change or a vanish, a folding coin gets into a bottle. That is a trick. A routine needs a beginning, a build and an ending, and that is where combinations come in.

The idea is old. Professor Hoffmann’s More Magic (1890) describes a routine where coins pass from one heap to another using a shell alongside ordinary coins and palming. T. Nelson Downs’s Modern Coin Manipulation (1900) describes loading “folding” coins into what he calls “the old shell finger” so a set of coins can be produced from apparently empty hands. Magicians have been stacking one secret on top of another for well over a century.

What does “coin gimmick combination” mean?

It simply means using two or more specially made coins, or a coin plus another gimmick, in one routine. The usual pieces are:

• Shell: a hollow coin that fits over a regular coin. An expanded shell is slightly larger so it fits over a normal coin of the same type. See coin shells explained.
• Flipper coin: a gimmicked coin used for visual changes and vanishes. See flipper coins explained.
• Folding coin: a coin made to fold, classically used to put a coin into a bottle.
• Magnetic and steel core coins: coins that carry a magnet or are attracted to one. See magnetic coins explained.
• Coin set: a group of gimmicked and regular coins designed to work together. A set is a combination someone has already worked out for you.

How do combinations work?

Without going into any product’s secret, the principles are the same across routines:

• One job per gimmick. Each gimmick earns its place by doing one thing the others can’t. If two pieces do the same job, drop one.
• The handover is the weak point. The moment one gimmick goes out of play and another comes in is where routines get caught. Those moments are usually covered by ordinary sleights, such as a false transfer, a palm or a natural pocket visit.
• Sleights hold it together. Hoffmann’s 1890 routine is a good example: the shell does one job, and palming does the rest. Gimmicks rarely replace technique; they reduce how much of it you need at the hardest moment.
• Finish clean. A well built combination ends with only ordinary-looking coins in view, so nothing invites a closer look.

Handling has always been the problem. Henry Ridgely Evans’s Magic and Its Professors (1902) calls the shell half-dollar “old familiar” and warns that “you cannot handle it carelessly as if it were an ordinary coin.” That limitation is why makers keep producing new versions, including magnetic shells and magnetic flippers.

When would you use a combination?

These are the kinds of effects combinations make possible, taken from classic sources and from the descriptions of products we stock:

• Coins across: four borrowed coins travel one by one from one hand to the other, one of the effects listed for a magnetic expanded shell.
• A two-stage vanish: two coins are shown, one disappears with a small gesture, then the last one vanishes on the table, as listed for a magnetic flipper coin.
• Coin into bottle: Hoffmann’s More Magic describes passing coins into an ordinary narrow-necked bottle using folding coins.
• Coin box routines: one magnetic coin box we stock includes a routine that uses a magnetic coin to change the flow of the effect.
• Matrix: magnetic coins are sold as accessories for some matrix routines, where coins under separate cards gather under one.

How do you learn to combine gimmicks?

Be honest with yourself about the order. Combinations are intermediate work. Learn one gimmick until you can perform it without thinking about it, and learn the basic sleights that go around it, starting with a false transfer like the French drop.

Then write your routine down as a list of moments. For each one, note which gimmick is in play, where every other piece is, and what your hands are doing. You will usually find one moment where nothing natural is happening. Fix that before you add anything else.

Practise the handovers on their own, slowly, then on camera. Watch the playback with the sound up, because talking coins give away more than angles do. Only when the routine looks like nothing is happening should you think about a second or third gimmick.

If you buy Tango gimmicks, several include a link to Tangopedia, a four-hour video with basic instructions for more than 50 gimmick coin routines. Seeing how one maker combines its own pieces is a good education.

Which products help?

• Expanded Shell Half Dollar Magnetic (D0159) by Tango: one magnetic shell. Its description lists two effects: four borrowed coins travelling one by one from hand to hand, and a borrowed coin routine that ends with everything given to examine.
• Magnetic Flipper Coin (Half Dollar) (D0042) by Tango: listed for an effect where two coins are shown, one vanishes, and then the remaining coin vanishes from the table. It includes the Tangopedia link.
• Modern Coin Manipulation by T. Nelson Downs: a free public domain ebook (1900) covering palms, passes, vanishes and the Miser’s Dream, the sleight backbone any combination needs.

For simpler single-gimmick starting points, see our money magic buyer’s guide.

What are the common mistakes and risks?

• Too many gimmicks. Every extra piece is something else to steal, hide and reset. If the audience starts to feel the props are doing the work, the magic is gone.
• Mismatched coins. A shell or gimmick should match the coins around it. A different date, shine or level of wear can stand out next to its partners.
• Talking coins. Gimmicks clink, and magnets click. More pieces mean more chances for a sound that doesn’t match what the audience thinks is happening.
• Nothing to hand out. The more gimmicks in play, the fewer coins can be examined. Plan which ordinary coin people get to touch.
• Magnets grabbing the wrong thing. A magnetic piece will happily pick up a steel coin you meant to leave behind. Test every combination before you perform it.
• Ignoring wear. Moving parts need care. Hoffmann notes that the rubber ring in a folding coin “will require frequent renewal,” and the same idea applies to any gimmick with elastic or hinges.

Sources: Professor Hoffmann, More Magic (1890); T. Nelson Downs, Modern Coin Manipulation (1900); Henry Ridgely Evans, Magic and Its Professors (1902); Wikipedia: Coin magic.

Frequently asked questions

Should a beginner combine coin gimmicks?

Not straight away. Learn one gimmick and a few basic sleights until the routine looks natural, then add a second gimmick only if it does a job the first can’t.

What is a coin set?

A coin set is a group of gimmicked and regular coins designed to work together. It is a combination someone has already worked out for you.

Can the coins be examined after a combination routine?

Usually only the ordinary ones. Plan your routine so it ends with ordinary-looking coins in view, and decide in advance which coin people get to touch.

What is the biggest risk when mixing gimmicks?

The handover, the moment one gimmick leaves play and another comes in. That is where noise, awkward hands or a mismatched coin are most likely to give the routine away.