Firstly, a big THANK YOU Doc Rubentein. A couple of months ago you graciously took the time to answer my ROPS questions. Truely a gentleman amongst veterinarians.

While practicing this morning, an honest to goodness idea hit me...scary, but true! Replace the single coin with a coin + [. Take a mmoment to realize the potential here... ! Just one leetle problem: after trying this all day, it may be impossible Do not wish to detais things here, besides, you'll uncover the issue on your first attempt.

If anyone can do this, it's you Doc. Fwiw I am not giving up...yet.
Please PM me with anything sensitive - we can find a way to write this up to post later.

If it is a separation issue, you might benefit from a Lassen [ as they have vacuum fit and don’t separate as easily as most.

Jim

Actually, not impossible at all. As you close your hand the coin pops up and is maneuvered out of the hand by the second finger. The coin won't separate. Taking the ] off the coin and stealing that is another story. Taking a ] that is overlapping a coin out of the hand is also not an issue.

Yes Jim, it IS a separation issue. My ['s are from Johnson's HH set, plus I have one made by Roy K for my silver dollar set. Excellent fit, which in this case is sort of self-defeating! As I want to remove just the [, a much loosesr fit may be what is needed to pull this off. Which reminds me, I have a cheap set of chinese+[.... have to see if these would work.

Clearly my question was vague at best! You hit the nail on the head when you wrote "Taking the ] off the coin and stealing that is another story.". That is what I am going for. Can't figure out how to de-[, then steal (only the [ ).

So, from a spec's pov: a half is placed into empty hand. As hand closes, magician taps the silver coin. Pause. The hand is opened, revealing an English penny!

Oh, Jim, I gave this a shot using the afore-mentioned cheap coin + cheap [, but still cannot pick up just the [.

If possible, try a "Shell-Shocked" deep shell from Mark Mason. They are not tight at all and they have full coverage on the edge. So when grabbing the shell by the edges you will get all shell and none of the nested coin. No chance of catching the edge of the insert by accident.

Jim

Just a thought, haven't tried it. Maybe a little something just on the tip of the middle finger of the taking hand...like Octopalm? You might have to find a different position in the palm so that the coin is not levered up much. Probably won't work but a thought.

Actually, I would use another technique for this. One that comes to mind is my pistol grip technology, taught well in the Penguin Live 2 lecture. You show the half dollar, and as it is rolled into the other hand the penny goes secretly into the hand while the [ is retained.

Ok, thanks Doc. I'll have a look at Live 2. Sounds like that will do the trick, so to speak.

Good idea Jim. Griff, I have an aversion to using anything 'sticky'.. for a variety of reasons. Having said that, your solution has at least one thing going for it: it works!!