How to Make a Dime Disappear

The act of making a dime (or other small coin) disappear from your hand is a relatively simple magic trick. To pull it off, you just have to prove the veracity of that adage, "The hand is quicker than the eye."

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Place a small piece of wax, glue, tape or anything sticky to your middle fingernail. Whatever you use must be sticky enough to hold the dime in place, and your audience must not notice it.

2. Place a dime in the lower corner of your palm, where your thumb is connected to your hand.

3. Close your hand into a fist. As you do so, make sure the middle nail touches the dime. Press the dime into the nail with your palm to ensure that the coin sticks to the adhesive.

4. Recite an incantation and open up your hand to show that the dime has disappeared. The trick is opening it fast enough that no one sees the dime stuck to the nail in back.

5. Make the dime appear again by quickly closing your fist again and pulling the dime off the nail. Either rub it off with your palm or peel it with your thumb.

Tips & Warnings

• Get a dime from someone in the audience, so that no one can accuse you of using a trick coin.
• Using any coin larger than a dime may make this trick more difficult, as it will be harder to conceal the coin behind your finger. This trick may also be hard for magicians with small, thin fingers.
• If the adhesive you use isn't sticky enough, the dime could fly off your finger as you open your hand, and the whole trick will be ruined.