talkmagic.co.uk

Hey peeps, I have a copy of Bobo on the way and was wondering what British coins are best for an average sized hand. I'm sure I'll find my own preference further down the road but have you any recommendations for starting off?

I tend to use 2ps. I find 10 pences too small personally.

2p coins are dandy, but I would definately recommend you try and get hold of some half dollars... they're bigger, and have a great visual impact.

If you can. go to an antique fare or equivalent and find some old 1p coins. Slightly bigger than 2ps and a nice charp edge to them....Half Crowns are good and sound nice...and US half dollars

I actually find old pennies a little bit too big for me to palm. I started out using 2ps and then gradually got smaller and smaller as I improved.

£2 coins are quite good for some things. Although slightly heavy, they have nice big milled edges.

I'm just starting with coins too (well, with everything else come to that).

I bought some half dollars today and they certainly feel nice in the hand.

Under Kennedy's head it says "in god we trust"; so does the pope, but at least he has the sense to use a bullet proof car.

Dr Todd said

If you can. go to an antique fare or equivalent and find some old 1p coins. Slightly bigger than 2ps and a nice charp edge to them....Half Crowns are good and sound nice...and US half dollars

Do you mean old 1p or 1d? I cannot object to the principle but getting sharp-edged old money UK 1d coins sounds like a non-starter. Half-dollars is my preference.

You are actually in a very good place - you have to find the coins that you feel work the best for you, rather than just go with what you're told.

There are considerations, of course. Bigger coins offer greater visability and therefore are called "more visual" by magicians. This depends, largely, on the size of your audience as to whether or not they are "more visual."

American "silver" dollar sized coins are being pushed more and more by the pros as being visual, but I don't know of any UK coins that compare in size and weight. If you can deal with a coin that size, then more power to you.

The half dollar is similar in size to the old 50p and halves are usually what are talked about or dealt with in most books and DVDs regarding coin magic.

The two pound coin is a nice piece to behold. It is pretty and visually compelling. For its circumference, though, it is just a tad too heavy. This is my opinion and if you think I'm full of it and you like the feel of the 2 pound coin, then go with it.

For tricks like "Thieves and Sheep," though, you will want smaller coins, like the British 1 and 2p coins and even the 5p will work.

No matter what, though, the coins or coin types that you use should be dictated by what feels right for you and the context of the trick/size of audience. That is to say, for "Thieves and Sheep" use small coins, for a stage presentation of "The Miser's Dream" use big coins and for the inbetweens, go with what feels right.

Mike.

Thanks for that folks, I've been playing around in leiu of recieving the book and 2p feels about right but doesn't look good. The smoothed edges of a 10p are quite tought to deal with, think I'll look into the 1/2 dollars.

Personally I prefer half dollars as they're large and interesting, and seem to suit my hand (I'm also trying out silver dollars). The milled edge is also great for palming, and you want you can even buy them "re-milled" with a sharper edge.

2p coins were great when I started off, but I found the dull copper coins can leave marks on your hands where you've been palming, which sorta gives the game away.

Another point is that you have the 1/2 dollar English penny duo for copper silver, and you can get every type of specialty gaff coin in half dollar form.