The Royal Mint is introducing the new £1 coin. Magicians are concerned that their special magic coins are about to become useless.

Magicians that perform coin magic have always had mixed feelings about the UK £1 coin. It's a little too small and thick to be good for palming, which makes it's use in coin magic limited. However, it's a great coin to gaff, and magicians have been using it to make special magicians coins for many years. Coin gaffs like coin unique, cig thru coin, and cap and coin monte, use the properties of the £1 coin to their advantage. Those special magic coins can be quite expensive, so many magicians are concerned that their special magic coins are about to become unusable.

Why is the new UK £1 coin being released?

The Royal Mint is introducing the new £1 coin because it has estimated that 3% of the current coins in production are fakes. That would mean there are over 45 million fake £1 coins in circulation! If you have ever owned a coin unique and spent it in error, you'll have added to that figure!

The old coin is very easy to copy. The new £1 coin is being marketed as 'the most secure coin in the world'.

The new £1 coin.

The new £1 coin is based on the old threepenny bit, a 12-sided coin in circulation between 1937 and 1971. A competition will take place to choose the image to put on the "tails" side of the coin.

"In honour of our Queen, the coin will take the shape of one of the first coins she appeared on – the threepenny bit. A more resilient pound for a more resilient economy." – Chancellor George Osborne

The new UK £1 coin will be about the same size as the old £1 coin.

Like the UK £2 coin, it will have two colours and will include mechanisms to allow it can be checked using high-speed automatic detection. The Queen's head will be on the heads side of the coin, the tails side will have a design chosen at a later date.

The coin is due to be released in 2017

The New £1 coin and magicians.

There are a few points that are important to magicians. Firstly the size. It's going to be the same size as the original £1 coin, which is not so good news for magic. The small size made it hard to palm and manipulate, so a larger coin would have made it far more useful.

Secondly, it's going to be bi-metal. That's a nightmare for gaffing the coin. The UK £2 coin has a similar issue, which resulted in many poor gaffed coins that would fall apart with use. Creating shells is much harder with a bi-metal coin as the insert needs to be supported.

On the plus side, the edging of the coin should make it easier to grip for coin manipulation. It may be a better coin to palm, and it's size would make it suitable for spellbound routines with a UK 20p coin.

Shoud magicians worry about their existing gimmicked £1 coins?

Not yet. It will take many years for the old coins to be phased out of circulation. Even then, the old coins can still be used with a story about the 'REAL' reason that the coins were changed, leading into your coin magic tricks. When the new coins are released, there will be a race to manufacturer the first gimmicked versions of the coins. Whilst the transition takes place, using the old coin will give magicians some fantastic presentation ideas to breath new life into their coin magic.

Scotch and Soda Vs Magnetic Coin Unique Which is Best?

Ben asks The Merchant of Magic:

I’m looking to buy a Scotch and Soda set, and I have seen you have the locking one, and the magnetic one. Are they both completely different in that that they do different tricks, or can the same magic tricks be performed with both types?

Which one is better?

Also the book/DVD that you sell that’s called 25 Amazing Tricks with Scotch and Soda, can this be used for the original version and magnetic?

Hi Ben, there are lots of different versions of Scotch and Soda, they all allow the same type of magic tricks to be performed. Which one is better? Well that really depends:

The Difference
The main difference between the original version and the magnetic version is the reset. You can reset the coin set quickly using a magnet with the magnetic version, the original version has a little gimmick you carry around to help with the reset. They both have pros and cons. The magnetic version is easier to reset, and the magnet helps the coins lock. However, the original Scotch and Soda version would stand up to a VERY close inspection, as the coins lock together so tightly. The magnetic version is ever so slightly looser when it is locked together.

The Limy Version
On a side note, the Coin Unique is the UK name for the same trick. You will find a £1/1p version, a 2p/10p version and a £2/50p version most commonly available in magic shops. There are several types on the market of varying quality. The Merchant of Magic has, until recently, always rejected the £2 versions because the bi-metal coins tend to fall apart.

Coin Unique are magnetic locking, and are good to have in UK currency.

About the DVD (You don’t really need it)
25 Amazing Tricks with a Scotch and Soda DVD or Booklet is a decent introduction to using the set. Because the basic tricks are the same for both scotch and soda original amd magnetic, both are compatable with the DVD. The production values on the DVD are not that great. It was made back in the 1980’s, and shows it’s age, but aside from ‘looks’, the tuition is sound and helpful.

Coin Unique comes with several routine ideas in the instructions for the set, so you probably don’t need the DVD if you’re going for Coin Unique.

I hope this helps you make a decision.

Got some advice for choosing the best Scotch and Soda or Coin Unique set? Share your thoughts in the comments section below: