Hollowed Half

I just threw mine on the floor about 6 times as hard as I could and it opened up and it wasn't damaged.
 

I threw mine down on it's side...not hard as I can but kinda hard.....it will pop open. Post pictures if you can. Good luck.
 

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Quote from: MalteseFalcon on Apr 13, 2007, 12:07:01 AM
......

Question....are these things just for some kind of "novelty" value? I see no useful purpose in hollowing out a half just to stick some other coin in it....

.....

Ok, I was lost about the hollowing out of a half.. but some searching and I found this article:

http://www.pcgs.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=799&universeid=313&type=1

brief answer: I guess it is to make double sided coins for magic tricks... any one else got any ideas? Does this seem to fit, or am I still lost? Undecided

Thanks... -Steve
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Thanks for your replies, and the above link from another thread kind of explains these "coins".

I guess Ill try to open it tonight, .....just don't want to damage it.
 

I was wondering how to open mine as well...though I have no idea what could fit inside one....
Actually, if it is a full depth coin fitted into the hollowed out space, there would be no space at all inside of it.

And the weird thing about mine is that it is not a 2-headed or 2-tailed JFK.....so it is not a "magician's coin" in that sense.....

Still, it is interesting to see the things that show up in these rolls.
 

The two that I popped open contained Mexican 20 centavos coins. They weren't loose inside, but cut in half length-wise and bonded to the inside of the false half dollar back. Don't worry too much about damaging it MF, mine took four or five good smacks on a tiled floor and it didn't get a scratch. Since the reverse it usually the machined side try hitting it face down. The impact should force the back to pop right off.

I have a two-headed nickel that I'm trying pop open too but repeated hits have produced nothing, and I'm tired of fishing it out of the cat's litter box!
 

Spy Coin (was: Hollowed Half)

ok, Still being intriged with the hollowed half comment, I also found this sight link during lunch:

http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/abel/abel.htm

Summary: (1953) news boy gets a nickle from paper route customer... it feels funny... drops it and it opens to reveal it was hollow... inside a piece of paper with # codes... Gives it to police -> fbi, etc... can't figure out what/why/who for a long time until they find a defected spy that has similar coins... with that info, they can decode it and read the message. Neet-o story there... worth the read.

Now I think I'll save 2 clads and see if I can find a machinist that can make me a hollow coin... Wink
 

Well, it only took two tosses, on it's edge, from about four feet; for the "coin capsule" to pop open.

Inside was a "slice" of a bronze/copper Mexican coin. I guess the thickness of the intended "stowaway" coin was too much; and had to be sliced thinner (like deli meat).

Still don't understand the intended use here; as a magician's coin; if it's not simple to open. Oh well, It is novel and I will keep it.
 

thurmownator said:
Still don't understand the intended use here; as a magician's coin; if it's not simple to open. Oh well, It is novel and I will keep it.
Click to expand...

Way to crack that baby open Thurm!

I don't get the magic purpose of it either. Most numismatic sources use the "magician's coin" definition but not one has gone on to describe what that use is. They'll often mention it's one of the most common questions they get.
 

thurmownator said:
Inside was a "slice" of a bronze/copper Mexican coin. I guess the thickness of the intended "stowaway" coin was too much; and had to be sliced thinner (like deli meat).

Still don't understand the intended use here; as a magician's coin; if it's not simple to open. Oh well, It is novel and I will keep it.
Click to expand...

I guess you could hollow it out and have two "heads" or "tails" on the same coin... Or maby use it to cheat by having a coin toss that would "flip" in a more predictable manner.. Maybe for some gambling purpose? I wonder since it has the Peso (or whatever) inside that our friends south of the US boarder would have any extra light on the subject...

What other uses for a rather large US coin? Hmmm What about cheeting slot machines? would it register as credit but reject it so that it could be used multiple times in a slot machine? would the bronze give it weight of a Sach? (Dubling your money? but too costly to make?) Are their any street gambling games that might use it?

Thurmownator, Does it weigh the same as a standard half? How does it "flip"? How did you "KNOW" it was hollowed out? How much wear/tear on it or does it look in good condition?...

I'm sure if it is sealed that well, unless to hide a secret msg, that it is probably not intended to be opened to be usefull...

I'd really like to see a scan if you could, just to get more of an idea... ???

On a tangent: I always thought I could flip coins and determain how they would land, by how it was launched, but I've read it doesn't work. If I would flip/spin it with Heads up (right hand thumb launch), catch it clean in my right palm and then do a flip/smack onto the back of my left hand, I SWEAR I could always get it to be heads... ;D
 

SGS, here's a little info about the two hollowed out ones I've found.

A standard half weighs 11.3 grams but my two are lighter; 10.9g and 10.4g. They also sound hollow if you tap them with your fingernail. They sound different too when you jingle them with other legit halves. I should add that mine weren't two-headed or two-tailed, but normal. What also clued me was one of the coin's rotation was off (the obverse's relation to the reverse).

I just don't understand machining open a perfectly spendable half to insert a foreign "deli slice" (great description, Thurm!).
 

Tonight I remembered to bust mine open. I just threw it on the kitchen floor and it broke apart. Nothing inside....but the strange thing was that it was not only a 20-centavo piece.
Someone had milled down another JFK half, and a 20-centavo piece and laminated them together.

See photos below:
 

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Is it possible that someone is "harvesting" silver and replacing it with a very cheap coin to bring the weight close to normal? Or atleast fill it enough to not feel too hollow.
 

I GOT IT!!! 8)

And NO... It's not to harvest the silver. But I like that Idea, but maybe too much work to offset machine/labor costs. ;D

Ok, GOOGLE works if you know how to WORK it... ::)

Searched for Hollow Half and found little but 1 reference to magic use (no reason how/why)
Searched for Hollow Mexican 20 Centavos - Found lots of strange stuff, but "Mexican Centavos" kept showing
up in about 5 or 6 "Magic" shop web pages... :-\
A Few of those made reference to "Scotch and Soda" tricks, but again NO EXPLANATION! (Darn secretive Magicians! >:( )

Finally I Googled for "what is magic Scotch & Soda." ???

TADAAA!!! The Answere was 2 down the page... :D

Here I present for your amazement... The answer to the "Scotch and Soda" magic trick and how it works! :o

WARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING - WARNING

IF you like to be amazed at magic tricks, don't read this; it may take some of the mystery out of life. :'(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_and_Soda

:) By the way, My real goal was to use EVERY SMILEY I could in this message, But I failed because I couldnt find
a way to use: ;) :( :-[ :P :-X :-*


Oh... But I just did! Now I can sleep in peace tonight!! ;D Hope everyone had fun speculating on the coins, sorry if I spoiled it too soon... And Most of all, for MalteseFalcon: You can enjoy knowing that your magic coin is worth a minimum of $1.50 + shipping -> 6.50 depending on magic shop (online) search.
 

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