Chinatown Quarter

Chinatown Quarter, or Half or Dollar, is a coin trick invented by Ken Allen, and first advertised for sale in 1953. The magician causes an American quarter to transform into an antique brass Chinese coin, that has a hole right through its center! "Chinatown Quarter" consisted of Allen's routine, as well as a gimmicked coin. But mostly, the name is now associated with the coin itself. "Chinatown Half-Dollar" came out sometime in the late fifties, and the silver-dollar size followed shortly thereafter. All three have since been used by magicians in many other tricks.

Resources

• Chinatown Quarter (Ken Allen): Marketed item, 1953.

• Zella's Space Coins (U. F. Grant): The New Phoenix, No. 381 (June 1963, p. 354).

• Chinese Quarter: J. B. Bobo, The New Modern Coin Magic (1966, p. 439).

• Chinatown Dollar Routine (Stewart Judah): J. B. Bobo, The New Modern Coin Magic (1966, pp. 459-463).

• Made in Japan (Ron Bauer): J. B. Bobo, The New Modern Coin Magic (1966, pp. 485-486).

• Triple Treat (Orville Meyer): The Linking Ring, Vol. 56 No. 4 (April 1976, p. 72).

• Mandarin Coin: Markted item. Magical Masterpiece No. 3, Routined by Jon, 1979, Paul Diamond's Magic Shop.

• Ultimate Chinatown Half (Gene Poinc): Marketed item, 1980, Sterling Magic Creations.

• Chinatown Penetration Plus (Ron Allesi): Genii, Vol. 45 No. 11 (November 1981, pp. 728-729).

• Sinology (Phil Goldstein): Richard's Almanac, No. 20 (April 1984, pp. 190-191).

• Orient Express (Larry Jennings): Stephen Minch, The New York Magic Symposium, Collection 5 (1986, pp. 113-115).

• Devaluation (Alex Elmsley): Stephen Minch, Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Vol. 2 (1994, pp. 261-263).

• Revaluation (A Reminiscense) (Alex Elmsley): Stephen Minch, Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Vol. 2 (1994, pp. 264-267).

• Chinese Quarter Routine...and More: Vanni Bossi, Las Vegas Lecture (2005, pp. 9-14).