First, these coins fulfilled audience expectations. If a magician could really do magic, he should be able to produce money! Coins are great props, because they are easily recognizable, and can be manipulated in a dazzling variety of ways.

Thus, some tokens were machined specifically with performance in mind; these coins were specially manufactured for particular performers (T. Nelson Downs, for example), and were unusually thin and well-balanced for easy palming and manipulation. Some even had special reeded edges to make it easier to hold on to them. (Coins like these were often used by the magician during his show, then thrown out to the audience as mementos).

Other coins were meant to be advertising pieces and souvenirs. Most of the tokens found today fall into this category. Many magicians such as Thurston  and Blackstone had coins imprinted with their names, to be given out or sold as souvenirs after their shows. Magic shops, too, coined their own tokens to promote themselves- Martinka, Abbott's, Ireland and others can be found today. Of course, magic sets, like those produced by Gilbert, also contained their own magic coins.

Perhaps the best reference work on magic tokens is a booklet, an "illustrated checklist", written by F. William Kuethe, Jr. in October 1978. It was produced as Vol. 18, No. 5 of the TAMS Journal. This booklet is very difficult to find. We have a copy in our library; should you have a token you'd like to know more about, please contact us. We'll be happy to try and help you learn more.

Magic tokens are now becoming a very hot collectible. They are relatively easy to find, affordable, and easy to display and store. If you are looking for a category of magic memorabilia to collect, magic tokens are an excellent choice. If we have any tokens for sale currently, they would be in our Collector's Vault here.

TOKENS ON EXHIBIT

OTHER EXHIBITS