Copenetro question

[Adam Brooks]

Does anyone out there use this in their shows? It seems to me to be a mechanical, glorified (yet stunning) coins to covered glass routine.

To anyone who owns any mechanical version of the effect: Does the engineering required to receive the signal/propel the coins take up the entire base of the unit?

[Carl Mercurio]

Originally posted by Adam Brooks:
Does the engineering required to receive the signal/propel the coins take up the entire base of the unit?

Pretty much.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Originally posted by Adam Brooks:
...Does the engineering required to receive the signal/propel the coins take up the entire base of the unit?

Each coin propeller takes over one inch by one inch by two inches. The basic device is detailed in books. There are four in that wooden base. Very good bit of engineering which works well for English Pennies. You can open up the device a bit and it will be okay for Half Dollars. The devices are are not designed to be easily extracted and remounted for applications such as the one using a paper cone and a book.

[Danny Archer]

I have seen a deck of card that does the same thing .. cover the glas with the deck and as the coins vanish, they appear in the glass ... the name Robot Coins comes to mind but I'm drawing a blank on the creator ...

[Jonathan Townsend]

Originally posted by Danny Archer:
... Robot Coins comes to mind but I'm drawing a blank on the creator ...

As I recall, the deck goes over the mouth of the glass.

The antique version might not be available any longer, though John Kennedy has something to offer.

[Jim Riser]

This is directly from the original mineographed instructions on green paper that came with my Robot Coins In Glass.

"Mechanical set-up and operation created and designed by James Sommers"

"Routine by Louis Tannen"

"Manufactured by Ken Allen Products"

Three half dollars are dropped into a tumbler which is covered with a silk. This glass is placed onto a deck of cards which rests upon a second clear tumbler. The three coins visibly penetrate the top galss and deck of cards to drop one at a time in the lower tumbler.

The mechanism is mounted within the card box and is lever operated. Due to the setup, the apparatus has a built in time delay so that the performer may start the operation then "get clear" of it before the magic happens.

I think this is from the 1960's and the original price for mine was $30.

FYI - Copenetro was hand operated and did not feature a remote control. I have handled versions (not Kline's) operated by a remote fishline and others with a music box powered release. The mechanism does occupy most of the wooden base. Four coins were used in Copenetro. A friend of mine had Bob Kline make him a custom silver dollar version - most were for half dollars.
Jim

[Guest]

I don't know for sure, but I think "Robot Coins" was made by Tenyo, wassn't it? The best version I've seen was made by Martin. I had one made by Hammerton, Martin's chief mechanic for years, and wish I'd never sold it. Beautiful clockwork made to drop four coins, one at a time, with prescision timing in between, exactly three seconds from one to two, exactly five seconds from two to three, exactly six seconds from three to four, or whatever it was - I can't remember now, but it was absolutely dependable. Tannen made one in the seventies that used a hydraulic-type mechanism that moved slowly, like a door closer, so again, you could pretty accurately guage the time between coins dropping. All of these fit in either a card case or a cigarette pack. The advantage over "Copentro" was that, once set in motion, you could walk away from it - you didn't have to trigger each coin, or have an assistant to do it for you...

Best, PSC

[Richard Kaufman]

Tannen's was definitely marketing "Robot Coins" when I was in my teens--saw it demonstrated many times.
That doesn't mean Tannen didn't swipe it from someone, and Jim Sommers is the guy who copied the Zig Zag from Harbin and created a big stink around the same time.
I don't believe Tenyo has ever manufactured an item named "Robot Coins," but they did make "Elevator Coins," "Soft Coins," and probably one or two others.
Collector's Workshop makes (or made) an electronic version that I think is remote controlled called "Silver Passage."

[Q. Kumber]

In Europe "Copenetro" is known as "Coins In Glass". I used it for twenty-five years in my children's shows and it always got a great reaction. The version I used was made by Jack Hughes.

[Guest]

How many kinds of Copenetro exist?
They all work with remote control, or they have a temporizer?

[Guest]

Only Coin in Glass that does not need to be hand operated to release each coin as far as I know is Collectors' Workshop Silver Odyssey, which was first available with a spring motor, then went electronic with a remote control.

[Guest]

Ken Allen advertised Robot Coins in the glass in

1960. I own a set of Allens Attic's and looked it

up.I own a coinpentro I bouhjt second hand many

years ago that someone had converted the last coin

to be released by a photo shutter release but I

always thought it was added later......Mike

[Guest]

Silver Odessey II is the very precision built Col Workshop version I use as "Coins of Rasputin." You kow -- that guy that they kept trying to kill -- and kept coming back to life -- for real!

It has not been available new for some time as it is a precision piece -- and the original remotes were all hand built.......with the working machined in a quality only Riser or Ruggerio would require.

[Guest]

George Robinson at Viking/CW will be releasing a dozen Silver Odyssey in the next two weeks. Though I already own an original mechanical version (with the oval tray as opposed to the later round ones), I am on the list to buy one. The mechanism is an absolute beauty to see and worth more than the asking price.