SHAW'S SUPERIOR COINS
By Richard Robinson

His open palm towards the spectators, the magician reaches into the air and a coin appears at his finger tips. This is followed by a second, third and fourth coin, the hand visibly empty as each coin materializes.

Setup

The number of coins used depends on their thickness and how tall a stack the performer can comfortably back palm. The coins should be the silver dollar size (1-1/2 inch / 3.9 cm) palming coins traditionally used for stage coin manipulations.

Working the coins into back palm position, clipped between the first and fourth fingers with the second and third fingers hiding them from view, depends on when the effect is used in a routine. The coins can be stolen from a coin clip on the upstage side of the body or picked up from a table in the action of placing something down.

Hand Position

Presuming the coins are back palmed in the right hand, the performer turns stage right, extending the right arm, palm towards the spectators.

The hand should be turned upstage at the wrist until the fingers are parallel with the front of the stage. In making reaching out gestures, the tip of the thumb is brought down to rest on the top of the stack which may protrude slightly between the first and second fingers.

The Production

The hand moves out as if reaching for something invisible the performer sees in the air. As the hand moves, the second finger is curled in towards the palm, the tip of the thumb moves forward until it presses against the face of the front coin, then the thumb slides the coin up until the lower half of the coin rests against the first finger. The thumb can then shift or slide down a bit to maximize the visible portion of the coin. As soon as the coin pops into view, the hand stops moving.

The ease with which this move is accomplished depends to a great extent on the coins used. A coin with minimal relief is ideal so that the surface of the coin will slide smoothly across the coin behind it. Most palming coins have to be buffed down with a fine abrasive before their faces are flat enough for this kind of manipulation.

Adjusting The Stack

If the stack is back palmed too deeply the production will be more difficult. The closer the front edge of the stack is to the second and third finger tips, without exposing the edge of the stack, the easier the handling will be.

To adjust the stack, place the tip of the thumb on the edge of the stack, raise the first finger, rotate the stack forward slightly, then lower the first finger.

Producing The Last Coin

When stage manipulators get down to the last coin or card back palmed, then tend to vary the final production simply because their hand is free to do so. In this instance, the illusion is more charming if the final coin is produced in the same manner as the previous coins.

Bring the thumb tip down until it touches the top rim of the final coin. Press down on the edge of the coin with the thumb tip, at the same time releasing it from the back palm hold. Swing the first finger behind the coin as the thumb levers it up, then stop. The produced coin is in pretty much the same appearance position as the previous coins.

Performance Notes

This coin production is credited to Allan Shaw who billed himself as the original King Of Coins and was a contemporary of the more historically well known King Of Coins, T. Nelson Downs. While Downs has become the legendary father of stage coin manipulations, reading between the lines of early 20th century contemporary descriptions, I suspect that Shaw may have been the more refined and engaging performer of the two, although he seems to have concentrated on secondary vaudeville markets such as Australia while Downs was performing in England.

Both of them developed a one handed, palm downstage multiple production of coins. The Downs' Palm cleverly concealed the stacked coins between the thumb and palm of the hand. Shaw's method was to back palm the stack, then to produce each coin from the downstage side of the stack. This approach involves less finger and hand motion and done properly creates a more illusionary effect. Shaw is also credited with creating the coin roll and anecdotal information suggests he was was not overly enthusiastic about other magicians showing him coin tricks.