Thoroughly overwhelmed. Any help would be appreciated

[dsorcerer]

Hello fine folks,

My name is Lori. I've actually logged in under my husband's account to try to reach out. This is one of just a couple of sites he talked about frequently in regard to his cards and magic hobbies. Well, my Edmond suffered a fall at the end of June and passed away from the injuries on the 4th of July and now I'm tasked with trying to sort through his treasures and try to discern exactly what is here. Today while tackling his desk, I found several small tins filled with coins and each has a label saying Un-Gimmicked. Because I know he had some "trick" coins too. I feel the need to ask if these are in fact just currency? or are they too, "special" I'm sure this seems like a no-brainer to you folks, but he would often not talk about his magic tools until he was ready to amaze me with it so I really have no idea about most of these items and would be grateful for any insight. Thank you. I can't wait to try to sort through over 800 decks of playing cards.

 

[Maaz Hasan]

First off, My condolences go to you and your family. I'm sure he was a great person.

Next, I am assuming that the coins in the "ungimmicked" tins are normal coins he would have used to practice or do other things. He may have done a great trick with them, producing a large amount of coins.

I am not 100% certain, but from what I understand, they are normal coins.

Maybe someone else can help you?

Sending the Best of wishes for you and your families future.

 

[leumas1960]

Would you like me to help you identify the playing cards? I'm not familiar with magic props, but very familiar with playing cards.

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

I am very sorry for your loss. And when we lose a brother magician, especially a member of this Theory 11 Community, we all feel a sense of loss.

I am 95% sure that those coins in the tins marked "ungimmicked" are ordinary currency. Ordinary in the sense of not being some sort of magical contraption. However, many magicians have ungimmicked coins that are old and valuable (myself included) such as silver dollars from the 1800's or even 1964 John F. Kennedy half dollars, as just a couple examples. In that regard, they are not "ordinary," but may be pretty valuable, so it would be worth consulting with a coin expert or dealer as to the value.

 

[RealityOne]

First off, let me offer my sympathies. @Al e Cat Dabra got it right. They are not magic coins but they may be rare coins or silver coins that are worth more than their face value.

As for decks, there are a lot of guys here that can identify the collectors decks.

I'd be glad to help you identify any gaff or trick decks, gaffed coins, magic gimmicks or props and magic books (I'm pretty good with the value of books as I pay attention to several sites that sell used magic books).

 

[Justinquill]

Out thoughts and prayers are with you. I too am willing to help as much as I can, I know quite a bit about decks and would be happy to share with you anything I can.

 

[DisasterTheory]

I'm very sorry for your loss. The loss of a spouse is one of the hardest things to have to cope with and you have my deepest sympathy.

I can assist with cards as well, some coin and even possibly some logic behind what he may have saved and why which may help a bit.

 

[Josh Burch]

Wow, what a difficult time. I hope that my loved ones will take the time to look through my things with as much care as you have.

The coins that I perform with, although not gimmicked, are worth about $50 each. Your coins could be worth considerably more.

As a reference here is a site for coin collectors that gives approximate value to U.S. coins: http://coinsite.com/us-coin-values/

If the coins are gimmicked they could easily be worth a few hundred dollars a piece. Please take care to make sure that they are not gimmicked in any way. If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out.

 

[DisasterTheory]

When I replied, it was a little late, so I tried to keep it short at the time.

One thing is fairly certain is that if he has a stash of coins set aside that are labeled "un-gimmicked" they may be regular currency. However, if he took the time to separate them from his regular change and currency...there was still something about them that made those particular coins special to him and worth separating from his typical change.

As painful as it may be to have this task in front of you, it opens an opportunity for you to be amazed and to smile again in wonderment of what you may find.

I have had a storage unit rented for about 10 years now where I began not only storing the magic props I've obtained over the last 20 years (many forms of magic most never knew I studied), but I've also taken some care to put them in the storage unit so that they are displayed rather than packed away. I know that one day my children or their children (one day) will need to go through my things. I've arranged this storage until (and keep adding to it btw), so that when that bay door opens, they will feel like they have opened the door to a world of fantasy. It is my way of not only opening their eyes to the world of magic but also me making them smile one more time.

The reason I shared this is because, while I don't know the extent of your husband's collection, I know that having a spouse that is a magician opens a rare opportunity in times like this. I guess I'm sharing this to give you a different perspective of the task you are facing.

Once again, I'm deeply sorry for your loss and there's a gang of us here that would be more than happy to help you along the way with the task you have.

 

[Gabriel Z.]

Sorry to hear about your loss...I can't say it any better than what has already been stated. My sincerest condolences. I would love to see some of his content, did he have any recordings of himself performing or a Youtube Channel? I'm sure we would all enjoy watching and learning from his card and coin magic.

 

[Timewise64]

Lori, as all above I am very sorry for you loss.

I am an amateur coin collector as well as an amateur magician, but one thing I do when I think I might of mixed up some 'magic' coins with some regular coins is I get out my magnet. All American coins are not magnetic! This is not true for foreign coins.

Many Jewelry stores have a 'Coin Guy/Gal' for customers to buy and sell coins, call around in your area and find out if one around you has someone to help with coins. If you bring all your husbands coins that you are not sure about, they will tell you of any that have silver value or other attributes. I trust these guys to help identify coins, but I would not sell to them, they always under bid, as they need to resell. A coin collector will pay close to actual value +- %. If the Jewelry person finds a coin for potential value, either hold it for a rainy day or sell it on line....

Good luck and God Bless you and your family during this difficult time....

Good luck