Five coins sit in a cup. A friend takes one, squeezes it in a fist while you count to thirty, and drops it back in while you look away. Without looking, you reach into the cup and pull out their coin.
🌟 Level 1: Apprentice
⏱ 5 minutes to learn
🪙 Coins
🎒 Ages 6+
Works by itself, or one simple move. It works the first try.
👶 Small parts! Keep them away from little brothers and sisters, and never put one in your mouth.👶 Coins are a choking risk for little ones under 4: keep them off the floor and out of small hands.
They don't hear your thoughts. Mind-reading tricks use maths that always lands on the same answer, a secret peek, or a code agreed with a partner beforehand. Magicians who do mind tricks are called mentalists.
What is the easiest magic trick?
The Rubber Pencil. Hold a pencil loosely near one end and wiggle it up and down, and it looks bendy, like rubber. You can learn it in under a minute, and it works the very first try.
Five coins sit in a cup. A friend takes one, squeezes it in a fist while you count to thirty, and drops it back in while you look away. Without looking, you reach into the cup and pull out their coin. It's a level 1 apprentice trick for ages 6 to 10 (grades 1st–4th), takes 5 minutes to learn, and needs 2 things you already have. Flick, the shop's rabbit, reads every step aloud with a picture, so a child can follow it alone.
The secret
A coin squeezed in a warm hand for half a minute gets warm, and the others stay cool. Your fingertips feel the difference straight away.
What you need
A coin
A paper or plastic cup
How to do it
Put five coins in the cup.
Turn your back and ask your friend to take out any coin they like.
Ask them to squeeze it tight in a fist and think about it while you count slowly to thirty.
Ask them to drop it back in the cup and give the cup a shake.
Still not looking, reach into the cup and touch each coin with your fingertips.
The warm one is theirs. Pull it out and hold it up.
Magic words to say
“Coins remember who held them. Squeeze your thoughts right into it… Now let me feel which one is still thinking about you.”
Pro tips
Hold the cup up high or behind your back, so everyone can see you can't peek inside.
Asking them to think hard about the coin gives them a reason to squeeze, and squeezing is what makes it warm.
Use coins that are all the same kind, so nobody thinks you found it by its size.
If something goes wrong
If two coins feel the same, say "Your thoughts have faded, let's try again", and ask them to choose and squeeze a coin for longer.
Safety notes
Small parts! Keep them away from little brothers and sisters, and never put one in your mouth.
Coins are a choking risk for little ones under 4: keep them off the floor and out of small hands.
Needs a helper.
No fire, no flames and nothing sharp in a child's hand anywhere in the Magic Shop. Nothing ever goes in a mouth, a nose or an ear.
Why it works
Your body is warmer than the room, and metal soaks up warmth quickly. Half a minute in a squeezed fist warms a coin enough for fingertips to feel, while the coins left in the cup stay at room temperature. It fades in a few seconds, which is why you feel the coins quickly.
What kind of trick is this?
🔮 Prediction. You knew all along, or you read their mind. Almost every trick ever invented is one of eight kinds, and knowing which one you're watching is how magicians work out how a new trick is done.
The skill it teaches:Working with helpers. A helper should walk away feeling brilliant. Perform it and it counts towards the Coin Conjurer badge.
Questions about the warm coin
How do magicians read minds?
They don't hear your thoughts. Mind-reading tricks use maths that always lands on the same answer, a secret peek, or a code agreed with a partner beforehand. Magicians who do mind tricks are called mentalists.
What is the easiest magic trick?
The Rubber Pencil. Hold a pencil loosely near one end and wiggle it up and down, and it looks bendy, like rubber. You can learn it in under a minute, and it works the very first try.