talkmagic.co.uk

Has any one bought the English Hopping Halves (Returning Coins). I have read reviews of Sterling Hopping Halves on penguin and thouht it sounded pretty good, but was concerned that specs may be put off by use on non-english coins hence the English Hopping Halves.

I've seen these in the flesh for around £26 and I have to say that the quality was pretty good. It was a 10p/2p set. I think that they were Tenko made and I saw them with a Tenko coin unique which looked absolutely awefull. The £1 coin look a dull green so be carefull buying online!

Sounds like good advice - thanks. Have you seen the Sterling Hopping Halves sold on Penguin. Also what do you think about the trick itself?

hopping halfs / sun and moon is one of the best multi phase coin routines that you can get for the money and introduces you to two of the best coin gimicks for coin magic and so is great value for money.

regards sterling version this is always an old english penny and i think is grosly misleading especialy if you don't read the accompanying text.

I agree with magicdiscoman and I LOVE hopping halves, sun and moon. I have just bought a set, easy to learn and I already am in love with it.

Not sure what magicdiscoman means in his second paragraph???? could you rephrase please? Not sure if you're saying that it's misleading because you get an old penny in the sterling version whereas you are led to believe that you're getting new currency?

Anyway - I would wholly recommend

PS. Just to confirm,. the Tenko version of hopping halves DOES use a modern 2 pence and 10 pence. This is next on my purchse list and I'll post a photo when I get them.

Thanks.

You mention hopping halfs expanded a lot, what are the relative benefits of this versus hopping halfs. If you can't say then I will go with what you recommend.

I have about £30 quid to spend, haven't got any coin routines, quite liked the penguin Sterling Hopping Halves video, so I am after a recommendation of the best version of this routine to get (and where), and would you go for sun and moon before or after purchasing hopping halves (I acnt' get both just the noo!)

Cheers,

hopping halfs and sun and moon are the same term for the same trick just as reacuring coins is the same trick.

yes i ment english penny rather than english coins sorry.

the expanded version which i dont know if you can get it in the sterling (ther u go doing it again) erm english version is a slight adaption to one of the gimmicked coins that alows it to be used in other coin tricks by the very nature of its expanded properties .

From your experience does it matter if the coins are sterling or not?
I am worried that if I use a US set then the spec will be more inclined to suspect something gimmicky.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a particular set?

i have the gold and silver set which are none curency and dont get any comments if I'm showing them a trick its a trick I'm not trying to pass it of as a pk experiment.

the expanded us set is best if you intend to do more gaffed coin tricks as most coin tricks are made in american format anyway like china change and scotch and soda, uk coinage is to small to lend itself to coin magic very well were as a half is big and seems more imposible for it to vanish.

Thanks again.

I am now almost convinced to go with the Sterling Hopping Halves set on penguin: http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=66, unless a better set is to be found.

I am being so cautious about this purchase as I need to lay of on the purchases for a while!

I recently rekindled my passion for magic (last time I was so interested was in the paul daniels era) and with the advent of internet shopping have spent an enjoyable small fortune on line.

Thanks for all the valuable advice.

Magicdiscoman,

You shouldn't mention sterling coins to a Scotsman. He'll be thinking of the city

Despite what I say about using normal things spectators are used to seeing, hopping halfs is the only effect I use that contradicts myself.

I use the original version used by Hobson, the old English penny and the American half dollar. I talk the spectators through the coins explaining that one has the Queen on one side and Britanica on the other and is minted in mostly copper and that the other coin has Ted Kennedy on one side and the American Eagle of independance on the other. Also, it was the last US coin minted with real silver in it and that it is also unique in that it has a bronze edge to it. Its all bulls**t but its a story.

I keep going through that as the routine progresses and it emphasises that they always see both sides of both coins. On the final time I start the usual dialogue and then interupt it and say, Oh, I'm not going through that again.

Then the big finish. Excellent effect. I haven't used the other versions but the English penny and US half dollar certainly work with a good story

AND because they are not standard coinage you do not have to pull them from your loose change. If you want to use a UK coin version, don't forget that you have to take the coins out of your pocket full of loose change or it won't be natural. There is an easy way to do that, but that's another story

I can't disagree with magicdiscoman and he's regarded as the coin (and haunted key ) man around here

I don't think that you can go far wrong with the Penguin version for what it costs but you could check prices on Bargain Magic http://www.bargainmagic.co.uk for the cheapest dealer.

If you're intending to do a few coin tricks using gimmicked UK coins then perhaps something different, such as the sun and moon version (old English Penny & American half dollar) is a good way of swapping coins out, in the same way that some packet tricks give you the opportunity to switch decks of cards.

since most of my engagments are prearranged i don't have a problem bringing out my coins in there origional plastic holder as there gold and silver i talk about the sun and moon being on each side of the earth and even though you cant see them tougether all the time they are never seperated, for the finish i ask them what i have left of course they say sun and moon wereupon you say that would be true but on a solar eclipse the moon goes in front of the sun and everything goes dark and all you can see is nothing.

this works well with the american version as the half represents the moon thats why it refered to as a half moon dont you know, and the copper refers to the firey nature of the sun.

i used to have a version called chineese economy that had a jade coin and a brass coin complete with holes which added an extra bit of confusion and disquised the workings .

which of course led nicely onto china change which led on to a half coin routine.

Thanks for all the advice. I will probably go with the penguin Sterling Hopping Halves set.