Okito Coin Box

A versatile coin magic prop. Can be used to make coins vanish, appear, multiply, travel, etc. The prop itself is ungimmicked and totally examinable.

Invented by Theo Bamberg (also know as Okito) some time around 1911 at his magic shop in New York City. His partner Joe Klein, who suffered from indigestion, kept a drawer full of pills. One day, Theo was idly toying with on of th boxes when he discovered that the lit would fit on the bottom as well as the top. He started using this idea to make the pills disappear and reappear elsewhere. Theo then conceived the idea of making the box a size to fit a fifty-cent coin and the coin box was born.

The boxes were manufactured by Roterberg, Yost and Company, Sam Bailey, W.D. LeRoy, and Martinka and Company.

Variations include the Boston box (not invented by George Boston), German Box, Slot Box, Solid Box, and Small Diameter Box.

References

"New Modern Coin Magic", J.B. Bobo, Chapter X.