It is impossible to prove the provenance of this item, but I include it here because it is an interesting item in its own right. It came into the Davenport Collection in 1982 as a gift from Norwich magician Harry Carson. Previously it belonged to Dick Ritson, a good friend of Harry’s and a well respected Yorkshire magician and magic historian. History does not tell us why Dick believed it originally came from Anderson (1814-1874).
The description on the envelope tells us that a borrowed coin is placed on the table and covered with a ring and a disc. When these are lifted, the coin has vanished. The envelope also has the initials LD, standing for Lewis Davenport, on the front.
A number of tricks are possible with these packets which were sold in pairs. For example, the performer holds a packet upright and drops a sixpenny piece into it. The packet can immediately be shown to be empty, although the coin can be produced again from the packet at any time. Another trick described in the instructions involves the use of both packets.
The date on the penny is 1929, so the date cannot be earlier than this. A penny is placed on the table and covered with the inside drawer of a borrowed match box. When the drawer is lifted, the penny has changed into a two shilling piece.
These coins may be used in a number of tricks where the coins vanish or appear. The latest date visible on a coin is 1925. The probable date for the trick is between 1925 and the middle of the century.
A quantity of these coins was presumably purchased by the Davenport family following the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. They would not have been expensive following the Coronation. These large, showy coins could easily be converted into an effective vanishing coin trick which was included in many of the Maskelyne’s Mysteries magic sets which were produced and sold wholesale. Also shown here is a photograph of one such set which shows the coin inside.
The magician shows a handkerchief and then finds a penny in his pocket, which is placed under the handkerchief. After the necessary magic words, the handkerchief is lifted to show that the penny has vanished, to be replaced by the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II.
As used by gamblers or magicians in various tricks.
As used by gamblers or magicians in various tricks.
Two pennies, a halfpenny and a farthing are placed down on the table and covered with a handkerchief. Slowly and deliberately each coin is taken out one by one, leaving nothing behind, but when the hanky is lifted, all four coins are seen back on the table. Complete with instructions.
As it says on the cardboard box in which the trick was sold: ‘A number of coins or other small articles placed in the little box instantly disappear’.
A borrowed pencil is thrust through a penny in full view. The coin is examined after the trick but fails to give up its secret. Complete with instructions.