Coins Through Table

A popular and much varied plot in coin magic wherein a quantity of coins (usually four) is placed on a table, then penetrates to the underside, falling into the magician's hand or a receptacle such as a glass. More often than not the coins are "magically" pushed through the table one after the other, and typically under increasingly challenging conditions. Magicians commonly associated with the plot include Slydini, Al Baker, Albert Goshman and Dai Vernon, each of whom established prototypical approaches.

Routines Published as Separate Manuscripts

• Kangaroo Coins by Dai Vernon. Published in the original Stars of Magic series (Series 2, #4), then later reprinted in the bound volume (Tannen's, 1975). Vernon's original method of passing four coins, one after the other, through a table into a glass.
• Albert Goshman Presents Coins Thru The Table. Third in a series of one-trick manuscripts released by Albert Goshman in the late-1960s.
• The Silver Passage by Gary Ouellet. Published in 1980 as part of the Masters of Magic series (Volume 1, #3). Four coins are introduced, then a small, round mirror (of the kind one might find in a make-up compact) is placed on the table, whereupon each of the four coins penetrates the mirror and table, arriving in the magician's waiting hand on the underside. The last coin penetrates by means of the Hirata Master Move (created by Japanese magician, Haruhito Hirata), whereby the coin, held in full view at the magician's fingertips, disappears in the blink of an eye as it's brought down to the mirror.

Other Routines in Print

• Knock on Wood, by J.C. Wagner. Published in The Commercial Magic of J.C. Wagner (Mike Maxwell, 1987). Routine uses four coins and every move is covered by a natural action. Among the sleights employed are Han Ping Chien and the Wagner Clink Pass.

Individual Techniques/Phases in Print

• The Gossamer Dissolve, by Gary Ouellet. Published in Close-Up Illusions (Ouellet, 1990). A method for causing all four coins to vanish simultaneously into the table top, thereby concluding any coins-through-table routine. Ouellet used this technique to end The Silver Passage, though it was not included in the manuscript.
• The Final Coin Flight, by Gary Ouellet. Published in Close-Up Illusions (Ouellet, 1990). A "breathtakingly clean penetration of the final coin in any coins through table routine." Offered in the book as a non-sleight-of-hand alternate to the Hirata Master Move.
• Coins Through Table Finale, by David Acer and Richard Sanders. Performed and taught on their 2002 lecture video, Roadkillers.