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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Trick coin trickery » » A Question, A Comment And A Statement (0 Likes) Printer Friendly Version

obsidian52
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Elite user
United States
402 Posts

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Okay, I know lassen and schoolcraft make high quality stuff (coin Gaffs) No Question there but my question sort of is Why the BIG difference in price between theirs and lets say Johnsons non-silver expanded shell?
Jonathan Townsend
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Eternal Order
Ossining, NY
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Enjoy using the johnson coin gaffs and when you need something "more" or "better".
...to all the coins I've dropped here
J-Mac
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Inner circle
Ridley Park, PA
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Johnson's Gaffs, while certainly good quality, are created in bulk and not individually by hand. The other guys are custom makers and as I understand it, they create each gaff by hand in their own workshops. Their gaff coins are made to much tighter tolerances and "cover" better than the manufactured items. They also make many of their gaff coins using unusual coins, many not easy to obtain and often of silver.

HTH.

Jim
rdwinc
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As a hobbyist - they just feel better, and work cleaner...
David
David Sacks

Wheaton, Maryland
obsidian52
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Thank you all for your honesty....As a Mechanic for the past 40 years, I guess its the comparison of working with a good set of tools like Snap-On or MAC....If you never work with quality you don't know what you are missing, then once you touch or work with a good tool (or gaff) feel and appreciate the difference, and then never go back
Lawrence O
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French Riviera
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The high end craftsmen work with a larger variety of older sterling silver coins or rare copper coins rather than clads.
Since it takes several coins to make most of the gaffs, the difference in price with the basic material is one of the reasons for the public price difference.

Furthermore the quality of craftmanship justifies the price difference.

Lastly, the price is also a selection process reducing the number of performers using such coins.

This being said there are suppliers who have standard gaffs AND higher end gaffs.
Magic is the art of emotionally sharing live impossible situations
ljsviol
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Quote:
On 2011-04-06 11:09, obsidian52 wrote:
If you never work with quality you don't know what you are missing, then once you touch or work with a good tool (or gaff) feel and appreciate the difference, and then never go back


I only own a few 'middle-level' gaffs, and have had the opportunity to experiment with a few high-end sets for a short while. For my experience, it's pretty much as you state - the higher-end sets operate without flaw, and you don't need to make allowances for them in any way - you don't know to 'hold it a certain way because this set works best in this orientation', you don't have to be sure the spectator doesn't see one side, or anything like that. The tools don't hinder you in any way, you can just get on doing what you're doing.

I've run into this a lot in musical instruments: a fine violinist will make even a poor instrument sound good, but they may have to work harder at it, make allowances for the instrument's limitations, that sort of thing. A good instrument (among other things) just doesn't get in the way, it doesn't introduce any problems. A poor-enough instrument can actively add problems, especially for a beginner who doesn't know how to deal with them yet. I haven't seen anything like that in coin gaffs yet. -)

I played one instrument for 20 years (not violin) with certain problems that I thought were pretty much inherent to the breed; I thought everyone had to deal with them, and it was just me having problems figuring out how to do so. Imagine my relief when I began exploring other instruments and finding that instead of presenting me with a problem, things just *worked*, and I could get on with playing music. That's the sort of instrument you keep for the rest of your life ... I imagine it's the same with a good coin gaff.

Larry S.
Pete Biro
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1933 - 2018
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One of Joe Porper's coin tricks uses 12 Morgan Dollars. Figure their cost in before you do the precision lathe work and..... Smile Smile Smile
STAY TOONED... @ www.pete-biro.com
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Trick coin trickery » » A Question, A Comment And A Statement (0 Likes)
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