Learn Coin Magic Tricks > The Equilibrium of Silver

The Equilibrium of Silver

The following trick was invented by the author as an improvement on an older trick of his in which three borrowed coins were balanced each on its milled edge on the top of a wand, which was subsequently published in one of the many books on Conjuring. The improvements
on the old style will be very apparent; as in this trick the wand is entirely dispensed with, the coins being borrowed and one at a time balanced on the extreme tip of the first finger and then, to crown the marvel, all three are balanced one on the top of the other on the finger tip. Fig. 37 gives the secret of the trick; A A are two minute flesh-colored rubber bands encircling the finger and supporting a very fine flesh-colored tube through which the needle n runs, the latter being pushed up and down by the thumb. The borrowed coins are, of course, exchanged for duplicates,each of which has a hole drilled completely through from one milled edge to the other. It is therefore obvious that when a coin is placed in a perpendicular position on the finger tips and the needle pushed up into the drilled hole, it will adhere to the finger with ease. To balance the others the needle is, of course, pushed up far enough each time to enter the next coin. It is as well when endeavoring to balance the first coin to let it fall once or twice, thereby giving the impression that it is a feat of genuine dexterity.