The disappearing coin trick has probably been around since the invention of coins. Below is a 1902 tutorial on how to perform the coin trick.
Disappearing Coin
A Parlor Trick for Boys and Girls Which is a Never Failing Source of Fun
The performer takes a large coin, marks it before the eyes of the audience, covers it with a handkerchief, and asks somebody to hold coin and handkerchief over a glass filled with water (Fig. 1). Stepping back a few paces, he asks the person holding glass and coin to let the coin drop into the glass. Then he removes the handkerchief and — the coin cannot be found in the glass. The performer claims that the coin must be in somebody’s pocket, etc., and stepping up to some one pulls it out of its hiding place and shows it to the audience.
To perform this trick, provide yourself with a round piece of glass (Fig. 2 and 3a), and a piece of thin rubber band, on one of which a hook made of a pin is fastened, while on the other one a small piece of wax is stuck.
The rubber band is fastened by the hook to the lining of the sleeve. After the coin has been returned to the performer — having been marked and given to the audience for inspection — the wax is pressed to the coin so that it will disappear under the cuff as soon as the rubber band is let go.
Instead of the coin, the piece of glass the size of the coin is covered with the handkerchief and given to one of the audience, together with the glass filled with water. When the order to drop the coin in the water is given, the piece of glass (being transparent) will not be seen in the water, and the coin will have disappeared.
To find the coin in somebody’s pocket is easy. The performer pulls it out of the cuff while everybody is looking at the glass of water, pulls it from the wax with the index finger, and is now ready to make it appear wherever he wishes.
Source: The Grenada sentinel. (Grenada, Miss.), 04 Oct. 1902.
