You should probably get an industrial tumbler also and not the hobby kiddie ones...just guessing though.

Chuck em into a nearby river and collect them 10 years later...?

They are going in the tumbler tonight.

I've done this with stones before, I'm changing the method a little for the coins.

I plan on tumbling them for a day at each stage so the don't get too worn.

The major concern of mine is that wet coins stick together, hopefully the spinning motion of the drum will prevent this.

Yikes. I cant wait to hear your findings on using a tumbler.

A long process is using a certain kind of sandpaper. I was able to soften four morgans that way. It wound up pretty good. The type of sandpaper came from a tip Scotty York once gave someone. I'd have to look in my notes the gauge of paper but if anyone is interested I'll post it here.

Sandpaper leaves you with sharp corners... which are less than forgiving.

What specifically prevents you from seeking out the coins that were prescribed for the tricks... well worn half crowns?

I can vouch for KirkG's coins. They are very nice.

They're soft like pudding. And I'm talking pudding Without the pudding skin. Now that's soft!

A very good combo of soft + nice looking.

Frank

Frank, do you have any pictures of Kirk's work?

I've tried coarse sand paper followed by a dremel tool with a cotton tip and polishing paste. It leaves the coin looking too shiny/polished looking and the coin lookes like something that was way over polished.

No I do not. Trust me. They look great. Significant detail. They are shiney but they do not look over polished.

PM kirk (he posted a few above) and tell him to photograph them. He's an expert photographer as well.

Frank

Thanks for the kind words Frank and Curtis.

I do polish my Morgans so they aren't the dull color spoken of on another thread. They are simply shiny silver coins with detail. "Too shiny" is a judgement call. I don't think something that is old has to look worn out or ugly. But you must loose some detail to get "soft" coins. It is inevitable.

Since I do the process by hand on each coin, I can control the amount of detail lost and the level of softness. Some of my magician friends like them more soft and some less soft. And since they are done by hand, one at a time, they aren't cheap. A set of 4 will set you back $100. While they are very similar in appearance, they are not exact matches with same dates etc. I have to sift through a lot of coins just to get to the level of similarity I have now.

I must admit though, that I have 4 beater coins that I carry in my pocket 24/7 for practicing and occasionally perform for people with them, and I have never had someone comment on the differences between these coins.

Frank is busy saving his money for a set, when he does he will probably post a picture for you all to see. But they will just look like coins. To really appreciate them, you have to hold them in your hand and feel them.

Kirk