talkmagic.co.uk

Hey guys, bit of a rubbish thread but hey, I'm bored!

Sooo, on one of the Diamond Jim videos he suggests nickel plating your coins to make them super shiny. Found some electroplaters in the yellow pages and went down there, the guy said "I could just polish them for you", did one to show me the result... a beautiful shiny silver half dollar!

So, if your silver dollars/dollars (I couldn't afford the expensive silver dollars, got the cheapo ones instead!) are looking grubby and old, take them down to your local platers/polishers (or not so local, unless you live on an industrial estate) and get 'em done, it will make practicing and performing coin work so much more satisfying!

As it's such a small job you could try to con them into doing them for free for you if you show them some magic, I paid a tenner for 8 or so coins - heh, what's a loan for...

I was also told that if you leave them in a glass of sprite/7up it would do the same thing....anyone know if that is myth or fact?

A Dremel also works a treat to polish. Also works perfectly for cutting through coins if you want to play with doctoring coins

A boy and his gadgets

i'll say it once and say it clear.. cillit bang.
then coat them in nail varnish to keep there luster.

magicdiscoman wrote:I'll say it once and say it clear.. cillit bang.
then coat them in nail varnish to keep there luster.

What exactly is cillit bang? I do like the nail varnish idea though!

Cillit Bang is a cleaning product available over on this side of the water. Strong too, melts skin and all that =D

On another note, I have noticed that a number of coin magicians tend to prefer darkened coins. I was at a Will Houston lecture last year and he specifically mentioned this. He had a method of treating the coins that gave the raised and lower areas much more contrast. I will check his notes when I go home this evening, but having seen people preform with really shiny coins, and with 'old' looking coins, I would have to agree with him that the older ones do look better.

comes down to the age old question of wether you wan't your coins to be ordinary, inocent looking or odd looking, thats why i used to use a lot of chinese coins in my work, hard to spend and intresting enough in themselves to be a focal point for the magic that happens, horses for courses i supose.

I live in Alabama. will someone please tell me if there`s 1 near the sheffield or muscle shoals area

On a vaguely similar subject, I saw a video online a while ago about how to "gold-plate" coins yourself, using products you can buy from a supermarket. You may need a bunsen burner though, and I doubt everyone here spends as much time in chemistry labs as I do... I'll try and find the vid.

Wow, there's a Sheffield in Alabama!

Re. the old coins vs. new debate, shining up my coins has denfitely made the markings more pronounced as the raised areas catch the light more - I think in dimly lit or outside area it's a definite advantage - much more visible, plus if you drop one you just follow the glint!

You do have to be a little more careful about windows, but how much more magical to produce a bright sparkly half dollar than a grimy old one. They also contrast better with the very worn, dark old english pennies I have.

Personally when shing coins I use Brasso or Silvo - works a treat.

With regards to shiny vs dull coins, I use both. Dull coins look more natural, shiny coins look a little more magical. It's quite nice to do a spellbound change (or any other type of transition you want) from a really dull to a hyper shiny coin of the same type. You can thus arrange your patter in such a way as to justify the use of shiny coins ("that coin looks a bit dirty, I just give it a little clean..."); and why use shiny coins? If Bobo is to be believed (and experience says he is!), retention of vision vanishes/effects are far more convincing if shiny coins are used.

Anyway thats my shiny two pennies worth!

stick coppers in coca cola over night, that'll get them nice and shiny

Lady of Mystery wrote:stick coppers in coca cola over night, that'll get them nice and shiny

Very true! And if it can do that to copper, imagine what it can do to your insides!!

39p tube of tooth paste, none corrosive and cleans almost anything metal. Also good for zapping spots on ya face..

TC All

and that, Carlos is why I don't touch the stuff.