Artifact Coins

Sep 1, 2007
319
2
USA
I wish they were bigger. Other than that, I don't think anyone has them yet to tell you what they think.
 
Dec 6, 2010
54
0
They definitely look attractive and strong, but for 7$ a coin, for something that probably cost 1$-3$ to make, they are definitely making money, although this is the case for most things that you buy like decks and other props. It seems that it all goes to down to how serious your are about your coin magic and if these will strongly add to your performance both visually and naturally. I would wait to see what other people say when they start being bought more.... but seeing this on ellusionist.... imagine a coin that had the face of the theory 11 logo like in the top left of this page. It looks like a coin already....... I would buy something like that for sure...
 
Dec 23, 2007
1,579
4
36
Fredonia, NY
not a bad product for those that dont want to spend $20 on morgans a piece. Will also make gaffs much easier later on. Not ugly, but im still undecided upon them.
 
Nov 7, 2009
135
0
Paris, France
It will really depend on how much they "talk". They could be of real value if they talk less than cheap half dollars, otherwise they are just gaffed-looking coins.
 
Here are my thoughts:

I do see a lot of possibilities for these in the gaff department. Because the coins are made by a magic company there should be no problem for them to make any gaff they want. I personally like the design, particularly the griffin. I know a lot of people will say stuff like "Why not just borrow coins" or "they aren't real coins" however how many people carry half dollars with them nowadays. Also 99% of your audience will have no clue what the diff is between walking liberties, JFK's, or Barber halves are. I only use JFKs (because thats all I have access to) and I have had a few people assume they were trick coins just because they've never seen them before. A magician came to our school last year and used Walking Liberties and the spec he chose wanted to inspect the coins because he had never seen anything like them before and assumed they were gaffed. For that reason, I see no reason why these shouldn't work as well. In fact you could probably come up with some cool story behind them. That being said I am not fond of the words "Stealth" and "precision" on the coins. Precision makes them sound mass produced and artificial (as opposed to an actual circulated coin) and stealth makes them sound suspicious. I think I may pick up four of these eventually just to try them out. Not to fond of the price, but then again a set of four is about the same price as a standard DVD.

just my two cents (or however much these coins are "worth" xP lol)
 
Sep 7, 2008
608
0
Eh.. not for me. The look is artificial and the words printed on the coin were odd choices. They kind of look like coins you might find at a tourist shop.

On a side note, an E staff member posted on The Magic Cafe advertising. He wrote:

...and have an eye-catching design that will catch your spectators' eyes.
and

If you love walking through coin shows or shops and digging through pile after pile of scrap coins, spending tons of money on dulled, worn pieces, then these coins are not for you. If you have other things going on, such as gigs, you'll love these.

I use Walking Liberty coins mainly - which I now guess means I don't perform. Anyhow, I listened to the podcast on these and when the guy rubbed them together they didn't sound very quiet... nowhere near my silver coins.

Just my opinion!
 
Aug 17, 2010
411
4
Contrived, gimmicky looking crap for pre-teens. At least real coinage has the mint to authenticate it, and old coins may be unfamiliar... these things look like cheap toys from a bad magic shop.

"a dark new weapon"? Give me a break.

"Our requirements for this coin were many and specific in order to attain the qualities that coin magicians standardize" - I would refuse to buy something with copy this bad on principle.

How can they be both "stealth" and "eye-catching"?

If these were the last coins on earth, I'd become a mentalist.
 
Sep 27, 2007
147
0
Cenozoic, Oligocene
Considering chinese coins manufactured by magic companies are around the same price, these are actually don't look so bad.

My question is whether they are actual metal with weight to them.
 

formula

Elite Member
Jan 8, 2010
968
5
How can they be both "stealth" and "eye-catching"?
Where did eye-catching come from? It says precision and stealth on them.

JDEN has a good point. Many of the coins used in magic are American currency, why would a magician outside of the states use it? We're lucky in England because we have the old penny but other countries might not have good sized coins so I guess even though they look like toy money they'll be good for people who don't want to use half dollars.
 
I'm a sucker for bizarre, strange, or unsual magic. As a kid I loved the hell out of the Indiana Jones movies or anything of the like that suggested high adventure with mysterious artifacts from a bygone era. So naturally anything with the words like "Artifact" in it's title catches my eye.

When I watched the video the only thing that I was thinking was: "Sure these look amazing, but I'm not going to retire my Schoolcrafts over these."

They may look beautiful, but I can't help but feel they look a bit like toy money. I'm wondering if that will be precieved by the spectator, or if they will even care. I'll come back to that thought in a bit. If the product line is successful, then this may mean that if I do switch from silvers to these, I may be in for a penny in for a pound, as I'll have to re-buy all of my shells and gimmicks because lets face it, these don't look like anything in my current arsenal.

I'm not a fan of the words "Stealth" and "Precision" etched into the coins. The choice to include these words on the coins is curious. These don't seem to me to be smart choices of words to put on a product that is intended for magicians use. Sure (we) magicians think these words are cool, but I feel it really stands out as suspicious in a spectators eye. For example, if I am performing a Three fly routine, the last thing I want on the coins that are flying from hand to hand is the words "stealth", and "precision"! Now if you wanted my two cents on this, I would have put the words stealth and precession in Latin. Best of both worlds, magicians get their inside joke, most people wouldn't catch it on a quick glance, and it still looks awesome on the coin since American currency does have bits of Latin on it anyways! Of course looking at this glass half full, it's not like the spectator will be spending a lot of time examining the coins with a fine tooth comb to begin with.

Since these coins don't resemble anything in circulation right now, I'm curious if that won't cause a disconnect from the audience at some level. I think anyone who uses these coins might run into the same problems as a lot of younger magicians have using custom decks. The audience will reject the product as genuine because it just looks different from things they are used to seeing. Silver Morgans may not have been in circulation since the turn of the century, but they have mint markings on them that prove their authenticity. Coin collectors know them, etc. So they have a sense of familiarity, however brief with the general public. These coins are complete fabrications, so no familiarity exists with them. Any coin collector or buff you have in your audience will also know this. This may cause more problems for the worker than it solves. Ultimately, it may come down to a strong character and presentation to pull it off. I'll be anxious to see how the audience reacts to me when I use them. I think some personal testimony is warranted for this product.

There is also the issue of the price tag. At 7 bucks a hit, I have to point out for the sake of consumer awareness, I can go buy a walking lib silver for that. Also it appears to be available in only one size, about that of a American half. What am I suppose to do if I prefer to use dollars? I suppose if they sell well, and lord knows they should, then they may make other sizes, but that doesn't help me much in the mean time. I can see this coin being useful during multiple coin production acts like Misers Dream. It's considerably less costly to buy a gross of these coins over trying to buy a gross of silver dollars, but then again they also make shiny silver like metal coins that are thinned down specifically for such an act. I don't know about how they match up with price though. I think they may be cheaper in the long run. So I guess it's six of one half dozen of the other. I suspect E is trying to create another market; A shrewed business move if you ask me.

The first immediate advantage that I see for this product is for performers from other countries. The country neutralness of this coin may make it an appealing choice over the Walking Libs, Morgans, JFK's, or other like coins that seem to be the standard in the community. Then again, this coin will look just as foreign in your hands as any American piece will, but at least doesn't look like any specific American coin in circulation at this time.

I'll admit it. I'm a skeptic. I'm probably overly critical, and my initial instinct is to be cautious (but open minded) about this product, and it's applications in my magic arsenal. Ultimate judgement will be set aside for until I can actually get my hands on a couple of these and try them out for myself. Once I get my hands on five of these coins you can expect a full, in depth review of this product.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Searching...
{[{ searchResultsCount }]} Results