got mine in the post today, it's beautiful and shiny and nice although I know what you mean, feels a little proppy and looks to new. Could do some work with it. Other than that it's a nice piece I might try and work in somewhere sometime. Like you said, it's barely any omney, definitely worth getting if you do some coin stuff, I'm sure the more imaginative of you could work something out with it.
Okay, a google on 'coin wand' shows quite a lot of links,
a simple description is 'At the tip of the wand a genuine half dollar appears or vanishes at the magician's will. Both ends of the wand are closed when not in use. The coin may be shown on both sides and nothing unusual can be detected even when held as close as 18'.