Let’s say you want to vanish a coin and have it appear in a Lippincott box. The potential weakness of the effect is that the locked box is introduced after the coin. I feel that the way to deal with this is to use time misdirection so that spectators forget the order in which things happened. But I can’t think what to do in this respect. Suggestions?

Gimmicked hank is the old ruse I use. The coin is being held (under the hank) by the spectator as I bring out the locked (and loaded) box. Grab a corner of the hank and whip it out of the spectator's hand - poof - the coin has vanished. Point to the box give them the key and let them open it to find the marked and signed coin. (I actually do this with a borrowed finger ring).

You can also drop do a simple switch of the coin for the key under the hank. Pull out the locked (and loaded) box, have them uncover the coin and find the key, use it to open the box and there is the marked coin.

I could go on and on with other standard examples but this ought to get you thinking of what you want to do.

Good !DEA. Thank you!

Thanks. Switching the coin for the key is what I do. My problem is really how to stretch the whole thing out so that there is a time gap between me producing the box and them discovering that the coin has turned into a key. Otherwise it all happens too quickly and they may remember that the box was not in full view from the start of the trick.

The best version of the Lippincott Box is the Porper Strongbox. Amazing prop, solid machined Aluminum with a gimmick that is out of this world and fools magicians.

Take a look here: http://www.porperoriginals.com/misc_strong.htm

As far as the prop goes, you can show it locked beforehand, or, with the included routine (which is terriffic!) it has a logical "Treasure" theme....trust me....this is one of the nicest props I have in my collection. If you have it....you'll use it and it will fool the daylights out of people!

I don’t really understand your difficulty with buying a little time between the production of the locked box and vanish of the marked coin. That the box was not out from the beginning of the routine will not be a big deal IF you have it out on the table BEFORE the vanish of the coin.

Once you have the coin covered (and switched) and the spectator holding it. You can bring out a case, open it and take out a locked box and set it on the table, putting away the case.

Now begin the trick! At least in the minds of the spectators the trick will begin. Do the mumbo-jumbo, abracabrada, mega-voo doo and vanish the coin. Let the spectator figure out what the key is for (that stalls for more even time).

I have a couple of identical Lippencott boxes so I can immediately repeat the trick. That is, after the coin is found in the first box, I close it, lock it and put it in my case. I then wrap the coin in paper (the old coin fold, but you saw that coming didn’t you?) and light it on fire. The paper burns to ashes, I reach into my case and take out the locked box and let the spectator open it again using the same key.

The illusion is perfect. They have handled the box before and the same key opens it. They saw it empty and locked closed. The appearance of the coin inside the box the second time is even stronger than the first. And the box was not in sight when it happened. Believe it or not it gets talked about after the show.

As to the prop? The Popper box is a thing of art and beauty, but so are my fruit wood highly waxed and polished boxes. Frankly it doesn’t make a difference. The prop does not make the trick. I had a Popper box and sold it in favor of continuing to use my old standby wood boxes (not to mention I didn’t want to spend the bucks for a second box necessary for my routine!).

Thanks, Harry. You are right. The two boxes idea is great. How do you get a key that opens two padlocks, or do you do a switch somewhere?

The issue of the coin turning into the key made me think that perhaps one could incorporate the Bobo coin to key trick in the middle somehow.

You can also use the "Quart-Okito" box put out by, I believe, Viking.

-Travis