talkmagic.co.uk

I have searched the forums but found nothing that answers my questions.

I'm after some big silver coins for my coin routine, ideally large silver ones that are even bigger than half dollars.

Now, watching the David Stone coin stuff, he uses nice big coins which at one point he mentions are Dollars.
Now i remember some Dollar coins on sale at Blackpool, but i have searched and searched the net and found nothing.

Foolishly i ordered some Dollars from a chap on Ebay, which turned out to be tiny little things

Any advice here, am i looking for the wrong coin or what??

cards4magic.co.uk...they're called jumbo coins...

No it wasn't a Jumbo i was after, i have one of those, but cards4magic do sell Dollars, so thank for the link matey.

Tom,

Keith Bennett sells the Ike Dollar. I have the Hopping Halves version with the Ike Dollar and the Chinese coin. The Ike dollar is 38mm in diameter.

Thanks Tenko, 38mm is the one iwas after, i remember nearly buying some from Keith Bennett at his stall in Blackpool,, i wish i had now.

He also does excellent Jumbo Coins with a special finish on them that guarentees its shinyness for years to come.

Thanks for the advice chaps.

how much are the dollars from Cards4magic. I cant use that site at work and am too impatient to waiti till I get home ?

Are they new silver dollars?

3 quid.

They're oldish ones. But they look good.

The Eisenhowers (Ikes) are the ones that you are talking about above and are the coin of choice by many American coin men. Selling for 3 pounds a piece over in the UK, they can be had for 50 p here in the states, because they are only valued at one dollar (well, they are dollar coins, after all!).

While we call them "silver" dollars, that is only because they are silver in color and also the coins of the past were mostly silver in content. So, "silver" dollar now-a-days is much of a misnomer for these coins.

Their ealier counterparts, which are 90% silver and the same size, are the Morgan and the Peace dollars. Much nicer looking coins, but they are collector's items and will cost heavily (compare the Ike dollar at the cost of one dollar to the Morgan which will cost no less than 25 dollars).

Of the Ikes, there are two styles: 1) The primary issue Ike and 2) The commemorative issue. On the back of a primary issue is a spread eagle landing on the moon and the commemorative issue has "The Liberty Bell" superimposed over the moon. (There are other issues, but they are special edition and not released for use as "real" money.)

They are a heavy coin and feel good in the hand...I prefer halves myself, though.

Mike.

Thanks for the info Mike, i have been doing some research on them, but info on which ones are used specifically by magicians seems to be quite scarce.

Thanks for the info mate.

As far as magicians go, it depends on who you ask. Daryl suggests using the dollars, because they are more visual (and they really are!). Conversely, you'll find that Roth uses halves almost exclusively. Really, it comes down to you and what you are comfortable with.

For me, my hands are very slender (in general) and my fingers extremely bony, so halves are much better because they conceal easily. However, the dollar does feel better in classic palm, I must admit. If I had beefier hands, I would choose the dollars, myself.

I can Downs palm several halves, but more than one dollar in Downs becomes terribly obvious...

So, the choice of dollar over half comes down to the magician himself.

Mike.

Absolutely.

I have been using half dollars for a year or so now and really like them. Thing is i have reasonably big hands and can't help thinking things like ROV moves would look much better in my hands with bigger coins.

David stone uses Morgan Dollars from what I've seen
You can get them off e-bay for about 12 quid for an almost uncirculated one. Uncirculated will mean a good reeded edge, whereas if you buy from a store they just give you what they've got. The silver gives them a little bit more grip than the Ikes, but they're heavier.

Morgan Dollars......Yes, those look like the ones, and slightly more attractive than the Ike Dollars.

I'll get some of each. Thanks.

majortom wrote:Morgan Dollars......Yes, those look like the ones, and slightly more attractive than the Ike Dollars.

I'll get some of each. Thanks.

That's what I did.
I got some Morgans for me, and some Ikes for the back of the magic draw.

beeno wrote:Uncirculated will mean a good reeded edge, whereas if you buy from a store they just give you what they've got.

I suggest that you get them "soft." The edges can be touched up using a diamond "three square" file if you're of a mind to do such a thing.

Nice, shiny, new coins make a terrible scraping sound when pushed against each other. This is to be avoided (*especially important in multiple coin routines*). Also, they are old coins, so if they look like new, they immediately attract too much attention and too many questions and desires to handle by the spectators. They will appear to be gaffed, even though they are not. Old coins simply should not look new, if nothing else.

Old coins should look worn and old - they are more aesthetically pleasing this way. And, one other bonus: They cost less than mint coins. You pay less for coins that are better (to the magician's purpose).

Soft coins are better on every level.

beeno also wrote:The silver gives them a little bit more grip than the Ikes, but they're heavier.

You know, I've never personally noticed any difference between silver coins compared to any other kind of coin metal/alloy. Other than the reeded edges, I don't find that any given coin palms better than any other coin. I always hear this (that silver palms the best/has better grip), but to my own experience, this simply is not true. Not to worry, it's probably me (my hands really are wierd).

But, assuming that the silver gives better grip, then you can sacrifice the heavily reeded edge because they are real silver and palm better as a result, even though they are old, worn and soft.

Mike.