OK, so I'm plying away at Kainoa Harbottle's Coins On Edge, which does promise wonderful things when EG is mastered. At the moment though I only have some halves with rather poor [i.e. worn] edges, which I fear is slowing my progress considerably [which is a polite way of saying the coins skoot out from my attempts at EG on a regular basis!].

I've heard some good things about http://www.themagicianscoin.com... would a set of these be a good thing for my EG practice? I'd want to return to real coins after getting the hang of things, and I'm not sure if I'd only be making things more difficult by using the special edge coins to learn with. Perhaps there are other options?

I use uncirculated silver Kennedy half coins, which seem to work fine for me. Maybe try and find some at your local coin dealer and see how they work for you. I think any uncirculated coins should work well for the edge grip.

Barbers hands down.

I do everything from CoE and more with barbers so its definatly possible, in fact I think they work better than milling because they can roll without losing contact and will "Stick" in many palms.

I *love* the coins from http://www.themagicianscoin.com for magic, but I don't think you should use them to help with EG...

My barbers have no milling and are slick/rounded, just like nearly everyone else's and they all do the material too.

I say just practice and stick it out....(but do get a set of coins from http://www.themagicianscoin.com for other effects but get them smooth )

Have fun with the material!!!

-Daegs

Hmmm... I do like the look of Barbers. So these are just run-of-the-mill circulated coins? I wonder what makes them work so well for EG?

Maybe I'll go buy a selection of circulated/uncirculated coins at the coin store and see what works...

I do agree with Daegs barber halfs are great because they don’t make noise when you slid them and they are smaller and thinner too. You should try both and see what works for you.

I'm a re-milled Barber guy, 1807's to be exact!

Joe Rindfleisch

And that is super impressive joe, given that they weren't minted until 1892 =P

I *cannot* imagine doing most EG stack work with uncirculated coins, it would be too noisey, loading coins on and off of the stack and transfering the stack around.

You could certainly do *some* moves with kennedy's, but if you are doing CoE stuff then you'll want soft coins that don't scrape when sliding around.

Soft coins are where its at, at least imho.

I found my liberty halves too noisy cos they were remilled. Loading multiple coins into EG would produce unwanted noise. Transferring the entire stack to Mutobe was also noisy.

Barbers is the way to go. Soft and thin. I can't do EG stuff with Morgans. Tad too big for me.

Yes good point but it all depends on the ambiance that surrounds you. For example, if you happen to be performing in a noisy bar, the sound should not come into play. Also, when there is a noisy atmosphere, along with a dark setting, the uncirculated coins will have a better chance of being seen clearly .

I never felt comfortable doing the effects on COE with uncirculated coins. Even with the right Ambience, I still prefer soft coins. Uncirculated coins would appear better with light shining on them with their high reflectivity.

Roper has a good point. But in general for me, soft Barbers seem to be the coin of choice. Can I just pick some up in a coin store? Is there a specific date [after 1892 I suppose ] that would be recommended? I understand the characteristics of soft coins to simply be fairly worn on the surface. Any hints on choosing good Barbers for EG work?

It seems that the problem with your edge grip is that the coins' edges you have are not milled. The "slick" Barbers suggested will have no milling either. Kainoa uses barber's as well I belive, but his have no milling, he is just a freak of nature with coins. I have re-milled my own (which is a bit lengthy process, but works very well). You can also send "slick" coins with no milling to be remilled by the different coin gaff makers found around these forums.

All in all, you are better off getting some silver coins. Any halves from 1964 and before are gonna be at least 90% silver. I find that silver coins seem more organic. Meaning they seem to stick to your hands and feel pliable although they are rigid. The suggestion to get uncirculated coins is gonna help YOU out the most, but they are far more expensive and make noise when doing different CoE tricks. The slick coins (I keep refering them as slick cause that is what the coin dealers know them as) are much cheaper and make hardly any noise but usually have no edge milling which is exactly what you are having problems with. You can always try remilling them yourself, or just send them out. Hope this helps

This is all great information, thanks everyone. So to begin I should probably look at silver uncirculated coins, then perhaps move to soft Barbers when a bit more proficient.... sounds like a plan.

Go for the barbers from the start...the right tool for the job...you won't regret it.

dug

Well... like I stated earlier, uncirculated silver coins are very expensive. For the price you would pay for 4 of these you could easily get a set of coins and a shell by Schoolcraft, Lassen, Kueppers, etc. Uncirculated silver coins go from $40-$100's each. So if you are looking at spending that kind of money, I would suggest a set of coins from the coin gaff makers. Most of them offer slick/worn coins that have been remilled and come with a matching shell. If you want to go the cheaper route, I would buy slicks from a coin dealer or ebay and get a small file or utility knife (the razor blade one) and mill your own. It is time consuming but it's not difficult.

You could also go the cheapest route and stay with what you have now and learn to do it with the worn edges. Maybe just modify your EG a little and place the coin closer to the palm. It looks more like Down's palm but it is a lot easier to control. I absolutly love EG!!

Tootall, thanks for the info - I had no idea uncirculated coins were so expensive. I also didn't realize that coins could be re-milled so easily... worth trying for sure.

I have noticed that nudging the coin closer in helps considerably with stability. I'm just wary of developing any habits now that I will regret later. I'd rather put the time in and get it right.

A "bad" habit you can avoid right from the start is using "special" coins in your magic. simpler to work with real coins from where you live... till you have presentations which call for prop-coins.

I Bought my uncirculated 1964 Kennedy coins for about three dollars apiece. Though the price of silver has gone up since then, I would think you could get them for a lot less than forty dollars each.

JT makes a good point...if I lived in Canada I would prefer to use Canadian coins.

Any coin is good for EG or Downs palm,which is the one I always use; as long as you keep the grease off the coin, by washing them with soap or alcohol, you should be able to grip them with no problem.

My two centavos.

Mano.

JT - true enough, and I have been working with Canadian $2 coins [nice edges actually]. But "soft" versions don't exist [as far as I know?]. This brings up an interesting point... ultimately, what is the ideal learning coin for coin magic in general? Here are my initial thoughts:

1. Coins should suit hand size [halves [or equivalent], dollars [or equivalent] etc.].

2. Coins should suit style of magic [close up/ stage].

3. Coins should suit effect [copper, silver, brass etc.]

3. Coins should facilitate sleights required in above [here's my nemisis! - soft coins, re-milled etc.]

4. Coins should be available in necessary gaffs [shells, C/S, flipper etc.]

Of course, there are a myriad of other variables in the mix, such as cultural influences, script requirements, budget etc. Not to forget personal preferences [I'm partial to Walking Liberty's myself!]

Does some form of document exist [or would it be valuable to create one] that might guide an aspiring coin magician in this matter?