redbeardrelics
Hero Member
- Jan 3, 2014
- 891
- 1,019
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett GTI 2500, (Ace 250 spare)
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Howdy CRH's, I have never coin roll hunted, but certainly check all my coins before spending them, or rolling them up for deposit. I enjoy reading all the CRH posts here, and am curious to see if you all know about the "magic" half's, or have ever found any while CRHing?
For those of you not familiar with them, there is a "magic" trick that uses a precisely re-machined American half dollar, a Kennedy, if I remember correctly. It looks just like a normal half dollar, and may actually be one, but I am not sure? It separates just inside the rim on one side, and splits into two thinner "halves". On one piece you will have the complete obverse of the coin, and on the other face it will just be a recessed, smooth and flat machined surface. The other piece will have the complete reverse of the coin on one side, but the other face will be stamped or pressed to look like a copper Peso, (at least the one I owned was stamped as a Peso).
The way the trick worked, or at least the way I would do it, was during poker games with friends. I would have a real Kennedy half and a real Peso, and at some point casually have them out on the table, or try to offer up the real Peso in the game, so that the other folks could handle them and see nothing suspicious with them.
Then later would have the trick half dollar separated and in one hand, with the Kennedy obverse, and Peso sides showing to my friends and make some comment such as "Peso's are worth nothing and the Kennedy's can eat them up". Moving the two halves of the trick coin back and forth across each other, and letting them click together to reinforce that they are metal and real, but always with the Kennedy face and Peso faces towards your friends, you can at any point just click the Peso face back into the smooth machined recess of the Kennedy face, at which point it "magically" becomes a solid half dollar again, with a true Kennedy obverse and reverse. You can then hand the single coin to your friends for inspection, and no one has ever caught on.
The reason I ask if you have ever found one, is that I think mine got inadvertently slipped back into circulation. They are hard to spot in a casual look with your eyes, but can often be discerned by dropping them onto a hard surface and hearing a not quite solid sound, especially once they have been used a lot and start to get worn. When new they come with an aluminum ring that holds just the rim of the coin so that it can be separated for the trick by rapping it against a hard surface. You can probably find a new one at any magic shop for about $20. Just something else to be on the lookout for while CRHing. HH
For those of you not familiar with them, there is a "magic" trick that uses a precisely re-machined American half dollar, a Kennedy, if I remember correctly. It looks just like a normal half dollar, and may actually be one, but I am not sure? It separates just inside the rim on one side, and splits into two thinner "halves". On one piece you will have the complete obverse of the coin, and on the other face it will just be a recessed, smooth and flat machined surface. The other piece will have the complete reverse of the coin on one side, but the other face will be stamped or pressed to look like a copper Peso, (at least the one I owned was stamped as a Peso).
The way the trick worked, or at least the way I would do it, was during poker games with friends. I would have a real Kennedy half and a real Peso, and at some point casually have them out on the table, or try to offer up the real Peso in the game, so that the other folks could handle them and see nothing suspicious with them.
Then later would have the trick half dollar separated and in one hand, with the Kennedy obverse, and Peso sides showing to my friends and make some comment such as "Peso's are worth nothing and the Kennedy's can eat them up". Moving the two halves of the trick coin back and forth across each other, and letting them click together to reinforce that they are metal and real, but always with the Kennedy face and Peso faces towards your friends, you can at any point just click the Peso face back into the smooth machined recess of the Kennedy face, at which point it "magically" becomes a solid half dollar again, with a true Kennedy obverse and reverse. You can then hand the single coin to your friends for inspection, and no one has ever caught on.
The reason I ask if you have ever found one, is that I think mine got inadvertently slipped back into circulation. They are hard to spot in a casual look with your eyes, but can often be discerned by dropping them onto a hard surface and hearing a not quite solid sound, especially once they have been used a lot and start to get worn. When new they come with an aluminum ring that holds just the rim of the coin so that it can be separated for the trick by rapping it against a hard surface. You can probably find a new one at any magic shop for about $20. Just something else to be on the lookout for while CRHing. HH
enjoy!
