Shrunken Coins

[timbrown]

This may have come up on the forum before but it is new to me...
Shrunken Coins


I can think of a number of pretty cool effects with these things. A shuttle pass, a little flash paper, some "mind power" coupled with the right presentation would result in something astonishing!

[Jonathan Townsend]

He was contacted a few years ago by (someone) about getting business from magicians who'd want all sorts of things. There's some discussion of his work here and there on the magic cafe threads if you use the search function.

An open question is whether he's up for precision shrinking so you can get uniform sized coins after the squeeze.

[timbrown]

I doubt that there would be enough control to do anything with precision. the "shrinking" process occurs nearly explosively due to very high amperage capacitive discharge of current into a coil that surrounds the coin. This current flows through the coil thus creating a very strong and extremely fast rising magnetic field. The magnetic field thus produced induces electrical current in the coin (called eddy currents) and these eddy currents create a secondary magnetic field that opposes the coil's field. Because of the very high amperage and fast rise time the opposition forces between the fields is extremely high. The coin is "squashed" and the coil literally disintegrates. Sometimes the coin will explode or tear apart. Shrapnel is a real issue here!

Pretty cool stuff if you are into electromagnetism. I think an interesting presentation would play upon a "sudden release of mental energy" coupled with a flash, loud bang, some smoke and resulting in a squashed coin. Sort of like the exploding light bulb effect but way cooler! Probably wouldn't play well in a restaurant though.

Of course it could result in a very cheesy bit of "magick" if not presented properly.