Furthermore, he says, he can reach through the hole to enter that second dimension.

And what, he asks rhetorically, might be the value of that? Well, in that second dimension, which admittedly his audience may have a bit of trouble seeing, are several silver coins which he needs for his magic.

The magician then puts his fingers through the hole in the paper and seems to pluck a large silver coin out of nowhere. This is repeated three times. And as it is done the paper is shown front and back without any indication of where the coins are coming from ... except, perhaps, that other dimension.

The idea of moving from one dimension to another and back is an intriguing premise for a magical effect. It is also a difficult premise to demonstrate. This hasn't kept various magicians from approaching the problem with aim of introducing some secret technology that will aid them in producing a convincing effect.

In his 'Art of Close-Up Magic' series, author Lewis Ganson describes a coin effect which is centered around a sheet of paper with a hole cut into the middle of it. In the effect, the magician can reach through the hole to that other dimension to produce and vanish coins. Ganson's method of accomplishing this marvel might best be described as vague.

Coin Space takes the premise Ganson explains and combines it with a modification of two effects presented by Harlan Tarbell in his course on magic. In these effects, Tarbell gimmicks the square of paper used to wrap up a coin before the coin's subsequent vanish. In preparing the paper he improves on the illusion of the coin actually being wrapped in the paper; although from his suggestion of two different ways to gaff the paper one might presume he hasn't quite decided on exactly how worthwhile his method might be.

Props

Left: the two load pockets are pasted along their edges and positioned on the sheet. Note the black strokes above and below the center hole which indicate the edge of each pocket that is not pasted.

Right: the first coin to be produced is loaded into the top pocket. The third coin is loaded into the bottom pocket and slid into the closed area of that pocket, the second coin to be produced is then loaded into the pocket.

A specially prepared square of paper is used. Although the square supplied here carries fanciful designs, the paper could as easily be made of newspaper or a page from a glossy magazine. The paper must be made up neatly so that the gaffing does not show.