The magician gives a spectator a pencil to use as a magic wand and shows several coins whose total is added

When the child waves his wand over the coins and then recounts them, he finds that the total has increased. This is repeated twice more.

Conceal a fifty-cent piece in your right hand before the trick begins. Ask a child if he would like to do some magic. Reach under your coat, drop the half dollar into the armhole of your left sleeve, and bring a pencil from your pocket. Raise the left arm a bit so that when the half dollar slides down the sleeve it will stop at the elbow.

Give the pencil to the spectator, then reach into your right pocket and bring out several coins. Hold them on the palm of your right hand a bit above the spectator's eye level. Spread the coins with your left fingers as though counting them and place a quarter on the third joint of the third finger (fig. 5À).

Close the fingers half-way, and dump the coins into the left hand. The curled third finger prevents the quarter from falling with the other coins (fig. 5A).

Spread the coins on the left palm, and again push one coin -- a nickel perhaps -- on to the third joint of the third finger (fig. 5B). Show the coins and ask the spectator how much money you have. When he announces the total, dump the coins back into the right hand and close it. This time retain the nickel in the left hand.

Tell the child to wave his wand three times over your closed hand. Then open it and have him recount the coins. The total has increased by twenty cents.

"You did that very well. Would you like to try it again?" The answer is always, "Yes."

Dump the coins back into the left hand again. The wand is waved again and this time the total increases by five cents.

Transfer the coins to the right hand and have the wand waved again. As this is being done, drop your left hand to your side and let the half dollar in your sleeve slide down and fall into your curled fingers.

Open the right hand. This time the value of the coins has not increased. "Well," you say, "I sometimes have that trouble, too. I don't think you waved the wand hard enough. Try it again." Dump the coins back into the left hand. The wand is waved -- harder this time -- and the total jumps by fifty cents!

"That's the way to do it! You've made so much money for me that you deserve a commission." Give the child a coin to keep.

figure 5