Jumping Coins

All you will need for this trick is 4 quarters, a deck of cards and some slight of hand. Are you up for the challenge? Well get ready to join Ryan Oaks as he reveals to you his jumping coins trick!

Four coins (Quarters are preferable)
Four cards of the same suit
Cloth placemat

SOMETIMES WE USE MATERIALS THAT REQUIRE ADULT SUPERVISION…LIKE SCISSORS SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY AROUND WHENEVER YOU DO MAGIC TRICKS!!

1. You’re going to want to perform this trick sitting at a table, preferably on the surface of a cloth placemat that has some give in it. The squishier the surface, the easier the trick will be to perform. To begin, place the four coins onto the placemat in a square formation. The two coins closest to you should be slightly closer together than the two farthest from you.
2. Take your four cards and give them a slight bend. Hold your cards in a stack exactly in the middle with your right middle finger and thumb, the tips of which should stick out slightly past the cards.
3. Holding your cards in this fashion, place them over your first coin in the top left corner (top left corner facing you). While still holding the cards, take your left index finger and thumb and grab the top card.
4. Move the other cards away in your right hand while holding the top one in place with your left hand, peeling it off the top. Lift the card in your left hand up to show that you covered the coin and place it back down over it.
5. Cover the second coin (in your top right corner) in the same way you covered the first, holding the stack over it, grabbing the top card with your left finger and thumb, and moving the stack away.
6. For the third coin (bottom left corner), you’re going to perform a secret move. Give the remaining cards in your right hand a little bit more of a bend and hold them over the coin. As you do this, you’re going to pinch the coin underneath with the tips of your middle finger and thumb.
7. Grab the top card with your left hand and move the remaining card underneath it away with your right. It will be just like you did with the previous two, except this time, you’ll secretly be moving the coin beneath it away with it.
8. Place the final card (and the hidden coin beneath it) over the final coin. At this point, you should have a card with a coin underneath at each top corner, a card with no coin underneath in your bottom left corner, and a card with two coins underneath in your bottom right corner.
9. Now it’s time to make your coins “jump.” Start by lifting the card in your top left corner up to reveal the coin underneath to your audience. To do that, place your left thumb at the back of the card, your index finger over the middle of it, and your middle finger at the front. Push down on the card in the middle with your index finger and bend it up with your middle finger and thumb as you lift. Release your middle finger to snap the card back.
10. Next, you’re going to reveal one coin in your bottom right corner. To do that, grab the card with your right fingers in the same manner your grabbed the previous one with your left. This time, however, slide the card slightly forward before you lift it. This is so you can find the edge of your secret second coin underneath with your thumb.
11. Bend the card upward as you did before, pressing down with your index finger as you lift the sides with your middle finger and thumb. Buckle the secret coin against the back of the card with your thumb as you lift. Now your secret coin is hidden behind your second card, and your audience will only notice the coins exposed on the table. Be sure not to draw any extra attention to the cards in your hands. This is the most important move in the trick and will require practice.
12. Place your bottom right card (and the hidden coin) back down. Then place your top left card back down.
13. You’re going to make the top left coin “jump” underneath the bottom right card. To do that, grab the card as you did before with your thumb, index and middle fingers. Slide the card forward to find the edge of the coin and perform the secret move, bending the card upward, buckling the coin against it with your thumb, and releasing your middle finger so you’re holding the card (and the coin) between your thumb and index finger.
14. Lift your bottom right card up to reveal the two coins that already there. Because your audience only saw the first coin there before, they’ll think your top left coin has moved!
15. Now you’ll have to transfer the coin hidden behind the card in your left hand behind the card in your right. To do that, rub the edges of the cards together back and forth. As you do this, push the coin in your left hand towards the card in your right using your left thumb, grabbing it with your right thumb. This may also take some practice. Now the coin is hidden behind the card in your right hand and you can discard the other card.
16. Place the card in your right hand over the two exposed coins, hiding the secret coin with them. Lift up your top right card with your left fingers to expose that coin. Lift up the bottom right card again using the secret move, taking the secret coin with it as you lift.
17. Place the top right card back down over its coin, followed by the bottom right and secret coin over their coins. Snap your fingers and use your left hand to perform the secret move and lift the top right card up again, this time with the coin buckled and hidden behind it.
18. Lift up the bottom right card again with your right hand to show all three coins beneath it. It will look like the top right coin has jumped!
19. Transfer the new secret coin from your left hand to your right by rubbing the cards together like you did before, pushing the coin from thumb to thumb as you do it. Discard the card in your right hand.
20. Place the card and coin in your left hand back down over the other three coins. Be careful not to clink any of the coins against each other.
21. Have an audience member lift the bottom left card to reveal that there is nothing there. Have them lift the bottom right card one final time to reveal all four coins together. If you practice enough and perform the trick correctly, they’ll believe all four coins jumped together under that card and be none the wiser!