The Miraculous Coin Casket

Illustration from Modern Magic

Professor Hoffman's book Modern Magic describes a wonderful little device called The Miraculous Coin Casket. This device holds four coins and each time the lid on the box is opened and then closed again one of the coins vanish. This can be repeated until all four coins are gone.

A recent eBay search showed one of these babies for sale for the modest price of $2500.00. However, quality modern reproductions that can had for a little less than that. I'm not really sure of the origin of the prop. The video below is Joe Stevens and he is demonstrating the Otto Mauer Coin Casket. Otto Mauer was a NY Magic Dealer. I don't know who the inventor of the prop was. The ebay auction shows a Coin Casket from a magic dealer called BLAND. So apparently it was being produced by more than one magic company.

(SPOILER ALERT-The secret to this trick is revealed in the video, so if you prefer NOT knowing the secret, don't watch. This is magic from the 1800s so it's not likely to harm a modern magicians act by revealing the secret)

Watch the first video you'll get to see the vintage Otto Mauer prop in action, you'll also get to see the inner workings of this incredible piece of Victorian Era craftsmanship. The second video below shows a modern recreation by Richbark Custom Magic. They show the workings first, but if you stay with the video you'll see their version in action as well. I should not the inner workings are different between the two boxes even though the end result is the same.