Man, I've been trying to stay with this classic palming of a silver dollar in each hand so I can get it down. I'm having a hard time with it. It keeps wanting to pop out all the time and then when sweat gets under the coin it gets worse.

Is this normal? Does anyone have any tips for me? It seems that after I put it in there for a few hours it works really well, but if I pull it out again for a few hours and try to do it again its hard to stay back in the palm.

Any tips or pointers would be appreciated.

-Jaime

Maybe a silver dollar is too big for your hand try using half dollars. A person average size hands can classic palm a half dollar with ease.

After you build up the muscle classic palming halves you can move on to dollars.

What kind of silver dollars? Eisenhowers? Try Kennedy half-Dollars and Walking Liberty half-dollars (softer coin is a bit easier to grip and don't talk as much).

Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you can do it well.

Practice, practice, practice... it's the only way...

Try shorter and more frequent practice periods.

You might also try it while typing or watching T.V.

After awhile you will be able to CP any size coin. Where you end and the coin begins will not be noticed.

With enough time you will be able to do the same with the Muscle Pass, that is use almost
any size coin.

I have been told that the larger coins seem smaller in my hand due to the fluidity(is that a word) of motion.

In the past, with small hands I was convinced I could not do it. Now even palming and releasing them one at a time seems second nature.

If it was easy everyone would be doing it.
Remember they (whoever they are) said even T.N. Downs dropped coins at times.

Harris

The silver dollars that I'm practicing with are the ones with the womans face on a side view with "Liberty" coming down the top rim of what looks like her hat. They're 1921 all silver coins (not sandwiched metals).

I can palm them easy enough when I'm moving around a small amount, but if I have to type something they're going to fall right out. I think this has been one of the harder things that I've tried to learn.

I'll keep at it though!!

Jamie,

I think what you're using is refered to as a "Peace" dollar. And don't be frustrated if you're dropping the coin during practice sessions, after all:

1. The Peace dollar is usually one of the thickest, heaviest coins one might consider classic palming, and

2. You're trying to type at the same time, for crying out loud!

Unless you've got some sort of routine in mind, (and that certainly would be interesting...hmm...you type into a laptop and pictures of coins appear on the screen. You reach for them and they come out of the screen and become real. Not bad.) there's yer problem right there--you're just a little too hard on yourself.

I gotta tell you, Ive done coin magic for 25 years, and never needed that sort of control in any routine. (Of course, if I had it, I certainly would have written something to show it off!)

BTW, if you still feel the classic palm is troublesome, try "over training". I found that my classic palm of one coin greatly improved while I was working on palming four.

Finally, this seems to be the rule: Check the edges of your coins for milling. (you know, the little lines) If you have dry hands, the milling should be sharp. Todd Lassen can re-mill the edges for you, if they're worn away. On the other hand, moister hands seem to do better with a smooth, worn edge. (like palming a billiard ball)

Good luck.

I would suggest practicing with a wooden nickle to develop the muscle, that way the wood will absorb the moisture so you would be able to hold it longer.

Ok, I thought I'd jump in on this thread too. I have no advice for you Jaime, I just see these folks saying to work on the muscle then you can palm this or that. How?

I read somewhere in these threads to stick a bottle over your little finger and lift it up and down to build up the muscle, and I've done that for ~3 months now and I still can't palm any coins. I don't have any meat on the side where my lil finger is, not much anyway. I can't palm any coin at all, for any length of time.

Suggestions on building the muscle when you can't start with a coin at all?

thanks,
mike

I use to work out alot and I think that has helped out alot for me. How about those V looking hand exercisers?

I can palm and type fairly well, though my hands look a bit strange doing it and I often loose the coin in my left hand (right is fine). However I can't say that it has helped me as much as just walking around in day-to-day life and holding a coin in classic palm. I always have a some coins on me and whenever possible I just try to palm and hold the coin.

For different coins I hold them in different positions. For a quarter, the palming is closer to my wrist then when I palm a half-doller.

Keep at it, and don't give up. Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you can do it well.

The great David Roth told me to try lightly rubbing the coin edge across some violin rosin, and I'll tell you, you can palm those thick .1oz commemorative coins using that stuff. Also practice in positioning it around to different spots until it "fits". Remember to always keep your index finger and thumb together as you are palming the coin so you don't get in the horrible habit of sticking your thumb out as you do the move.

You know it's funny that you are having a problem with the dollar. I just got a beautiful real silver dollar and it palms like a dream. But if I go to small coins, especially a penny or dime, it often looks like I have a major cramp in my hands. Luckily not many of my stuff requires a penny or dime, right?
But I have found the v-shaped hand exersizers and typing while palming has helped me the most.
Good Luck!

I have trouble palming silver dollars too. I think its becuase i learned how to do everything on a half-dollar: palming, hand washing, the musle pass, etc. Then when i tried it with a siver dollar coins were falling all over the place. Its kinda funny becuase my friend learned everything on a sivler dollar and when he tries to do stuff with a half-dollar he's just as bad as me with a silver dollar. Just pick a coin that you're comfortable with and stick with it.

That point of view will limit you. Different size coins are useful in different situations. I learned everything with half dollars. I can do most sleights with halfs easier than silver dollars by nature of their size.

There are some routines I feel just look better with bigger coins. These routines are the coin flurry type routines, standup fingertip coin magic, etc. Bigger coins are more visible and look a bit more impressive when magic is done with them.

I remember learning the muscle pass with a half dollar. As I gravitated to using bigger coins for stand-up flurry type routines I had to go back and relearn with a silver dollar. When I started - I could not even do it with a silver dollar. In fact, there are still some things I cannot do with a silver dollar that I can with a half because of their size, but I still find the silver dollars valuable to use.

I like to use the smaller half dollar stuff in closer more intimate settings when I am performing magic really close to people.

Dan

I agree with Dan, sometimes when I switch to my Morgan Dollars, it takes a while to get comfortable with them.

It was easier when I was younger.

I was preparing for a gig that I chose to use
the silver dollars. I developed a shooting
pain in my left thumb after practicing the muscle pass with my left hand.

Doc said it was tendonitis.

The doctor suggested I use my right hand or
switch back to half dollars.

Harris

Let's face it, you won't be typing while palming a coin in an actual performance. It won't help.

Maybe, you're trying to grip the coin too tightly. I just use a light grip to classic palm a silver dollar. Try varying the depth with which you position the coin in the palm. I can classic palm any coin from a silver dollar to a dime, and my hand looks the same regardless of the coin palmed.

Make sure that you have at least one routine in mind for the use of the palm. This gives you a context in which to use it, determining how you will practice it. When I use a classic palm, I'm usually holding an object at my fingertips; this helps to motivate the hand position.

Just keep a Dollar in classic palm "ALL THE TIME" I looked like a freak when I started classic palming, but over time it has become almost invisible... I challenge myself to see how long, and what kinds of things I can do while classic palming a coin... I keep one in my hand all day... and I use the hand with the coin in it as much as possible..
I have even gone to sleep with a coin in classic palm and woke up around 2am with the coin still there. If you classic palm a coin often enough, it will become part of you and your muscles will accept that it is there and will seemingly develope a mind of their own... the only downside is, whatever I have in my hand, I inevitably try to classic palm it, wether it be a bottlecap, a rock, any coin, or anything basically that can be classic palmed... you get funny looks sometimes when you forget you are practicing and someone notices you have a rock stuck to your hand *L*
good luck
Tom Defrange

You feel asleep and woke up with it still palmed!!! ROFL!

Thats pretty amazing!

Its only happened once, I probably just got lucky *L* and I will probably never make it through the whole night... But I get a kick out of my wife wondering how these 1/2 dollars keep popping up under the covers every morning..*L*
Tom

Just do as I said and stick it out with that (MORGAN SILVER DOLLAR) a big hunk of silver. When the two weeks are up move to every type of coin there is. I learned Wing Silver(David Roth) with half dollars and after I got good at it I did it with dime, just so if the person said here do it with my coins and handed me dimes I wouldn't look stupid and say HUH? I can't?