Bitten Coin

The magician borrows a coin from the spectator and is seen to take a bite out of the coin.

Preparation

Take a quarter and file one side of it down so it looks like someone has bitten a chunk of it off.

Pictures

1. A bitten coin

Method

Approach a spectator and ask them to borrow a quarter - you should have the gimmicked coin palmed by now.

Take the quarter from the spectator and switch the coins.

Pretend to be biting and tearing off a section of what is now your gimmicked coin and eventually tug it free of your mouth to show the spectator the bitten coin.

Advice

If you are willing to spend a little money on this, then you can buy a properly gimmicked coin that enables you to show the full coin before, bite a piece off, and then spit it back on again! Buy it now from Ellusionist.com

Comments

busterandersson 24th Mar 06	great effect - every magician and amateur should get one of these!!! if you don't want one ... get two!
eli93 2nd Apr 06	great trick! everyone should buy it!
Zoota 3rd Apr 06	what do you mean by filing it? Like a nail filer?
Dizzi800 14th Apr 06	I had my dad use his hacksaw, so I have two. many tricks can be done now ;)
yankeeprez 16th Apr 06	very good discription. a good way to do the trick without using much money!
Freeko 17th Apr 06	its against the law to screw up or tear money lol
Leviteye 19th Apr 06	I put the bitten coin on a piece of elastic. That way, you end clean.
KildridMagician 20th Apr 06	sweet man nice trick and easy to do
kaliaznmafia 21st Apr 06	DUDE just like DAvid Blaine but yet so simple!
Aceone 22nd Apr 06	how does he re fill it?
nochoz 22nd Apr 06	yeah i got it but don get it but real cool!
mystic 23rd Apr 06	i used a penny and got some REALLY awsome reaction thanx a lot
jahovis 26th Apr 06	Quite resourceful, but I would think it was worth it to buy the $10 coin, to be able to blow the bite back into it.
ZeroDeath 29th Apr 06	love this trick i have the half dollar version and mines gimmiecked so yeah it rocks
numbnut 30th Apr 06	kewl i like it i already have five that i have orderd wooo hhhhhhhoooooooooo
Ken 3rd May 06	This one is worth it's weight in gold. Which isn't much. But it gets perfect reactions. Just be good with the switch.
streetking 5th May 06	i have this trick i also get great reactions
dane 7th May 06	this trick is cool but i cant figure out a way to file down a coin
pablothegreat 9th May 06	use a dremel to file down a coin it works the best just get the grinding tool and go at it a vice might help to
cardmystic 11th May 06	Aww... dont buy the trick! File down your own! This is a great effect. Hard to switch the coins though. Unless you want to do the blowback effect, dont spend 10 dollars on it!
wtfomfg2 17th May 06	very cool trick!! gd effect.
havik 17th May 06	very nice, i took some needle nose pliers and bent it back and forth till it broke off
Leviteye 18th May 06	I broke it, then I filed it down to make it look like tooth marks.
donald 20th May 06	The trick in the clip involves a special coin to be able to do the blowing-and-fixing part. The special coin is foldable and costs around the amount of money the site says.
magical 27th May 06	its not bad untill someone hoo isnt stupid sees it
james15 30th May 06	I PUT A MAGENET ON THE FILED PART OF THE COPIN AND SPAT A PIECE OUT AND IT STUCK BAK ON TRY THAT !!!!
blacktiger 3rd Jun 06	thats not feasable james15 that would be a horrable looking coin.
nickoftime789 6th Jun 06	Is the gimmick that you can buy hard to work?
KRA 7th Jun 06	do u have to buy the gimmick coin can't u do it with a regular coin
bradley4love 8th Jun 06	beeter to just file your own and pretend to swallow and choke on the missing half of quarter....or be like DB and swallow the other half for good measure!
mhernand 8th Jun 06	i have a gimmicked quarter and i have the instructional video i love this trick!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mint 16th Jun 06	can't you just file two coins, one to have the bite out of it, and one to be the missing bite shape, then simply take the coin parts, glue some clear bendy plastic onto its back, then fold it back with your thumb while taking the bite, and release your thumb off of the bit peice to have it snap into place? If so then from there you just hand them back their initial coin which was palmed throughout the routine, and while they're looking at it, pocket your gimmick.
joeray 16th Jun 06	are you following the intense amount of work you are describing to build your own? You can get it for under $10.00 and it is unbelievingly tight.
mindfreak1 16th Jun 06	i bought this trick it gets great reactions even with the homemade coin, although its better to get the whole trick so you can blow it back together
xhunterlee 18th Jun 06	Yeh, its better to purchase the real thing. I bought it for $15 at a magicshop along with the coin through bottle and Cigarette through a coin. All together it cost me $35. People flip when you show them these trcks!
magicaljoker11 19th Jun 06	whats file
eman 20th Jun 06	i'm gonna go break a quarter right now. i think it would be really cool shock magic to be able to BITE a piece off a coin, then swallow that piece, and THEN swallow the rest of the coin. i'm gonna go try it on my mom, who by the way FLIPPED when she saw the twisting arm illusion. lol.
eggplantboy 25th Jun 06	how the heck can i break a quarter?!!!?!?!?!?!!!!!!
magik23 26th Jun 06	This is a hard but good idea.
eggplantboy 26th Jun 06	guys dont buy it off illusionist buy it off of http://magical-tricks.com/
magicmars 1st Jul 06	you can go to any magic store and get it for 7 or 8 dollers
salmonhead 11th Jul 06	This is a great way to start off but I advise that you spend the extra money.
Hawk 12th Jul 06	If you want this effect to work well, and work well every time you do it, buy the coin from a dealer, it wil be machined to perfection and , be smooth to use, and who said its hard to switch the coin;;;[ the bobo switch ] is perfect for this effect and, after a short time of practice the move will come as second nature, go try it.
rosslee69 23rd Jul 06	i used pliers and a wire cutter and it worked pefectly but i was tierd after finishing and file means cut duh
stullbz 27th Jul 06	I purchased the trick from E and it is awesome, worth every penny.
krismagyar 5th Aug 06	theres also a version where you hide the filed coin behind there coin so when you show theres from the front you have the filed one behind it and when you pretend to bite it you slide there coin down hidden behind your hand
XeroAlpha 12th Aug 06	-->BRRTONMAN112. A 'file' is what you use to shave down the coin to make it look like there's a piece missing. And it's an awsome trick. Freaked the hell out of my girlfriend.
thebeast 28th Aug 06	i hammered half of a quarter until it was flat den i used plyers to break it off
fsd 30th Aug 06	well it is a good trick but it is to easy to figure out and not that hard to do
cotyt94 31st Aug 06	yo it would be really cool if you sawed it off but kept the sawed off end in your mouth so you could show them that you actually biut it off. but hide it in your mouth before you get to them.
thepenguin 7th Sep 06	Firstly it works well to saw the coin, and secondly the ellusionist one works better. Much better.
ajmagic 9th Sep 06	it can definatley make your magic name grow
remotel 10th Sep 06	coyt94, nice idea. anyone have suggestion on what is best to file with?
gononono64 11th Sep 06	i have just bought it about 5 days ago it should be coming soon
mage 17th Sep 06	Meh it's not feasible for me to create the gimicked quarter...
randommagician 23rd Sep 06	this trick is really easy to perform. Just palm the gimmick in your right hand. Then when the spectator hands you their quarter, take it with your left hand and pretend to pass it to your left hand. Then, have the filed part concealed behind your hand and pretend to bite the quarter. Show it to the spectator. Then, I like to start to give it back to them, but just give them their actual quarter back after making a move towards my mouth to make it look like im putting the bitten piece back on. See? simple.
deathead 24th Sep 06	This is pointless, you should explain how to make a gimmicked version of the coin...if it wasn't for comments people wouldn't have a clue what to do except buy the bitten coin, in which case this is not a description of how to do a trick at all.
bgtheig 2nd Oct 06	i recamend buying the gimmic it has a way bigger impact, just borrow a quarter and palm that one and switch it back at the end. the only problem is all these new state quarters.
tjmccabe 3rd Oct 06	it is a flexible coin i have it such a rip off you cant let people see the coin unless you have another coin that is real
luigi10liker 10th Oct 06	when you switch the coins, use the bobo switch. It's 1 of the best
alittlestircrazy 17th Oct 06	use a bobo switch!
jnj0595 1st Nov 06	i dont get it i tried to use a nail filer and it didnt work. please email me at jnj0595@e0garfield.com to tell me hoe to file it down. i do it with a token from six flags by using a nail clipper to clip peices off and it looks so real. i just hold it from the part thats gimicked and it works like a charm. i have tons of them so i put alittle red marker on the outside like blood. but you would have to say i smallowed it if they ask how u started bleeding
foblozer93 5th Nov 06	this trick is aweesome and is very funny.people freak out and juss scream which is really funny.
flashmaster7 9th Nov 06	I wish i lived by a magic shop :( I have to go to a different city just to get one :(:(:(
ThePeito 10th Nov 06	Tight, but i didn't really like this trick when i first saw it.
molten 10th Nov 06	This trick is quite good and highly recommended by ellusionist. I myself would recommend buying the gimmick rather than trying to painfully make your own. Like some people have mentioned, the proper gimmick is very convincing and allows you to restore the coin as well, while a homemade version would look quite ugly and requires A LOT of work.
kane911 12th Nov 06	This Trick is quality and i use it as all my children shows.
majuub13 13th Nov 06	I like the effect but i don't like the needing a gimmick. But that's just me, I guess.
777agic 19th Nov 06	when u act like your bitting it do you turn the coin around or do you do it quickly and then just let them have time to react or what?
pooponastick 19th Nov 06	can some one tell me who bought a coin how you spit the quarter back because i dont want to buy it if i can just make one with my tools in my garage...help please
anbu 20th Nov 06	filing it is a pain in the butt, and some people get a little mad if you ruin a coin that much. What I do is take a chizle and hammer and make a dent on the side of the coin and say your teeth are strong enough to cut into the coin. If you are a parent with younger kids, tell them you can do this because you drink your milk and eat your vegies.
lukinhas 20th Nov 06	how can i file one side of it down
777agic 22nd Nov 06	pooponastick what it is is a slit around the edge of a coin where a rubber band is placed so when u really do it all you are doing it letting the coin go and the coin pops up xD
anbu 23rd Nov 06	to cut the coim, you put the coin in a vice, then you put a cizzle up to it, the you smack the chizzle with a hammer. It should make somewhat of a cut in it.
toddryanhannon2006 23rd Nov 06	look this is an ok effect! but if you actually are willing to spend like ten dollars for the gimmicked coin then you can do a much better effect known as the coin in the bottle trick!
zenomax 24th Nov 06	this trick is great i used it to pretend to erase the coin its also a good trick
JackRig 25th Nov 06	if u put it in ur mouth u can pretend to bite it in half, then spit out the gimmick coin and leave theirs inside ur mouth
chopzilla7 25th Nov 06	you can buy a better gimmick so when you blow on it it will be perfect
claw 25th Nov 06	this trick is quite good, when you borrow and pretend to bite a portion of it, but it's ugly to show its only biten where's the other portion? swallowed? its better to buy the gimmicked one cause it comes back to normal when you pretend to spit it.
bobtrikobsky 26th Nov 06	its good but i mean come on how long is it going to take to file a coin??!!??
freak527 27th Nov 06	I used a rat-tail file and it worked brilliantly!
PicklePhantom 27th Nov 06	I like this idea, but wouldnt it be easier to just buy the real one for like 10 dollars on ebay??
bubbagmpshrmp14 28th Nov 06	GREAT!!! love this trick but filing takes a while and hurts your fingers
jimbobdavis 28th Nov 06	I don't mean to ruin the fun, but defacing ANY piece of state property (this includes money) is an offence by prison or huge fine! You have been warned!!!
mrbean12 30th Nov 06	you can buy the gimick on a different website that is cheaper heres the link. http://www.penguinmagic.com/
codycox 1st Dec 06	its WAY easier to perform if u buy the gimmicked coin
lilpez994 2nd Dec 06	i have been doin magic for 45 years and i have seen some magicans who spend thousands of dollars on hese coins
chaosangel 5th Dec 06	all it is is a hook on both sides of the coin and an elastic holding them together and when you "bite" all you do is fold it back and then blow and release and voila
Yexo 10th Dec 06	dddddd maybe u shouldnt copy the entire page and post it again. the trick is cool
chaosangel 12th Dec 06	this is the best trick for parties b/s little kids dont get card tricks and they will be amazed at the thought of this trick if you mess up a couple times and then get it right it adds to the suspense!
foblozer93 13th Dec 06	i actually bought the gimmick coin and i got it for a good price.$6.99 with a box of rubber bands.great effect.i carry the coin a special pocket in my wallet so i don't accidently spend it.
jakethesnake9 14th Dec 06	if you flip the filed down coin really fast it can look like you blew the peice back on. It has worked for me so far.
jackterron 15th Dec 06	amzing trick. it works very well, even surrounded. i love it :D
aiznboi 17th Dec 06	I'd rather buy the actual gimmick than buy it myself...but I guess this works too!
dvanex 22nd Dec 06	I think if I get this to work I could try filing a little more and a little more off a few more coins and use palming and my pants with multiple pockets. I think then I'd be able to pull off multiple bites.
worldofmagic 29th Dec 06	I have the gimmiked coin and to tell you honestly it kicks this 1 100%
blacklight929 5th Jan 07	if you dont have the gimmicked coin to spit back the bitten piece, when showing the spectator u bit off the piece of the coin, have ready THEIR coin in your palm and when u want to "spit back the broken piece", make a big spit and shake ur hand foward, and as u do this, slide their coin back up, and palm the filed coin again. if timing is right, it shouldnt look like u switched the coins.
TheMage 16th Jan 07	the hardest part here is the coin making it realistic that is u dont realy want teeth marks i dont think, i kinda cut it in half and used a hammer to bend it extemely slightly on the cut edge (warning: cut edges can sometimes be sharp). you can even use a third quarter the cut one, the borrowed quater and another u prepared before hand. take a pointed tool (carefull!!! u may want to use adult supervision thow most of you probably wont...) such as a screw driver or a chissel and punch a hole in the quater take it out and show the cround and say somthing like "almost got it" put it back in your mouth and bring out the cut quater after a while. say there we go or some little thing like that, you can even cough or somthing and spit out the other piece like it got caught in your throut or somthing. then "carefuly" (for show) put the pieces back in your mouth like u are trying to put them back together and bite it real hard like yer trying to fuse the pieces together. pull out the borrowed quater and watch as they are amazed you can even show them the date so they know its the same quater. if they happen to give you a dirty quarter just say somthing like "im not putting that in my mouth its disgusting" or somthing
glitch43 1st Feb 07	If you buy a gimmicked coin, make sure you get it from a bigger dealer. I've ordered a few of these (cause i'm too lazy to make my own) and only one was workable. I just keep a matching coin in the same pocket and pull them both at the same time. The real one palmed under my little and ring fingers and the other out in the open between my index and thumb. Then, when you spit it back together, you use the Bobo Switch and hand the spec the coin.
hectorgiovanni 5th Feb 07	i love the bite out coin im going to buy one either in ellusionist or penguin in a few weeks
dragonmagic 6th Feb 07	glitch buy from penguin themage clean the coin (der) and i need to get a hack saw other wise ty for the trick.
magiman 1st Mar 07	i like the hought of sawing down the quarter to make it look like it has been bitten out of, but instead of taking all of ur time into fileing down a quarted, u could go and but it if u can find it at a cheap price. but firlt i would try this method and if u dont like this method then i would go to a shop or get on the computer and go to pemguinmagic.com and buy the trick or a website of your choice.
urmommason 7th Mar 07	yes it is a nice trick but every gimmick for some reason dissapoints me because it takes so much skill from it, especiially in this trick
scooterfort 8th Mar 07	hey i like to take the coin in pliers and hit it with a hammer till it breaks it looks better
IanAnddrewAhner 9th Mar 07	this is a very good trick. but if your going to spend money i suggest the flipper coin
george55 10th Mar 07	great effect but it took me forever to file down the quarter
illusionist2007 10th Mar 07	This is a ok trick for school. I've been using it for a long time. but if done at school~ 1. make sure you don't have too many people around you. 2. make sure the people you do have around you aren't the kind of people that will try to ruin everything 3. practice.practice.practice you might not think this takes much practice but even a short and simple trick like this could be revealed just by the way you hold it.
scooterfort 13th Mar 07	the kind of switch i like to use infolves holding it in your right hand between ur index and thumb and fake puting it in ur right hand by pulling it into finger palm with ur right middle finger
elementsk8r12343 14th Mar 07	great trick.they sell a gimmicked coin on ellusionist.com
cheeze 17th Mar 07	i saw this trick on click but i thought you do it with tin foil
yotad03yo 19th Mar 07	hard to file down so i just bought it from penguin magic.
MandG 29th Mar 07	good trick. suggestion: buy the gimmick, works a lot better than a homemade gimmick.
G91292 30th Mar 07	I usually finger palm the filed coin on my middle finger and then place their coin over the gimmick. Then when I pretend to bite it I just push up the gimmick and cover their coin with my index finger. Then I just blow it back and as I'm blowing I pull down the gimmick and show their coin has restored
catchmenow44 1st Apr 07	u can buy real bendable coins at your local magic shop in stead of having to go through the troublle of switching the gimmicked coin and regular coin!
chickenbeefpork 6th Apr 07	Im gonna stick with the gimmick. How would you file it down. I mean honestly?
ddustin 7th Apr 07	Ya, i agree with chickenbeefpork what do i use to file it down????????????/ you mean a nail file? that would take age's
mrdrakeboy 8th Apr 07	This is a neat effect, but go for the gimmick. It is a neater effect. I would suggest having the gimmick in kind of a finger palm. Then throw the gimmick up in the air and retain the real one, catching the gimmick in the other hand. As you are biting, use your original hand to hold the gimmick and at the end do the throw again, releasing the real quarter.
hovercard1 9th Apr 07	this trick is awesome i have a gimick i made myself
trevalin 10th Apr 07	the bought gimmick is definately better but this is also very effective when performed right...
Tim123 11th Apr 07	Just buy the coin much eaiser, it's definatly worth the money. Making one is way to hard, making the swith is a little difficult, I suggest the french drop or make it vanish.
hya 12th Apr 07	i agree with most it is easier to just buy the gimmick
ellusionest 12th Apr 07	if you do file down the coin i got a cool tip, if you use a round file on a 45 degree angle on each side, you can get close markings to the gimmick coin, but i do think buying to gimmicked coin is alot better and much easyier.
dralph396 20th Apr 07	This trick is fantastic! It has a much bigger impact if you spit the bitten half back on so i think it is a waste of time fileing down a coin unless you wanted to hand it out for inspection. Evan then the spectator may ask to see the other half so what do you do then?!
bulldog306 22nd Apr 07	That is almost as good as David Blaine's Coin Bite! It's so awsome that you can get such a good effect by just fileing off one of the edges of the coin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Metroid343 29th Apr 07	Very neat, I recommened file techneques like this: File down one side of the coin on a cement surface, when finished it should look like a coin with half of it cut off. Then, take a screwdriver and bang "bite marks" into the filed-down edge to make it look more realisitc.
djsnickerman 9th May 07	This version is ok,but I would spend the extra money to buy the special gimmick so that I could blow it back together
pablobo 19th May 07	dont show this one to friends in my experience they insist on inspecting the coin which is the end of the illusion really!
nyle 20th May 07	This is a really good effect, my dad showed me it before I was into magic and he used a very good patter. Just remember if you buy the gimmick, keep a real coin palmed so if the audience ask for inspection you can quickly hand it back.
willthong 20th May 07	Very nice...I like it a lot. I'll start using this immediately.
martyfracker 5th Jun 07	I'm not to good at palming so I'm gonna stick with the gimmicks besides, it is best when you can actually have it signed, which i don't know if it is possible so I do not do coin bite tricks. =/
sunbursttele 12th Jun 07	If you file the coin it won't look as realistic. My grandpa actually has a saw that cuts coins well. I know how to use it so I cut bite marks in it. As for switching the coin you could do a false pass... Have the gimmicked coin your left hand and pretend to pass the regular coin in your right hand to it but don't actually switch hands. Nice trick, well written! 4/5 only because you could have explained a way to palm the coin and switch the two.
moneypokemon 4th Jul 07	it took a while to get the coin part off but it was a good effect
avieisen 25th Jul 07	great ilussion! every time i preformed it on the street, people wanted to check my mouth for metal pieces!
moneypokemon 2nd Aug 07	advice you can use a gimmicked coin you can buy or cut a piece off with a parents help
alexmonto 17th Aug 07	what type of filer do you use metal or normal?
darkwater 21st Aug 07	good trick but if you buy a properly gimmicked coin its more easy and more infective cuz u can give the spectator the money and let them think its real money.
irish4life84 4th Dec 07	It is kind of hard to file down a coin and it is kind of hard to switch the coins so i recommand just buying it.
AmazingJonathan 3rd Jan 08	what does this even mean i dont get it visual images would help
DenisSeal 22nd Mar 08	Everyone, please make yourself a favour and buy the actual bite-out quarter, you will have so much fun with it and the restoration is just sooo visual.
coreyhammer 19th Nov 08	This is a classic piece of magic. Folks...I just bought my folding coin and I love it.
wolverine366 24th Nov 10	I really like this trick. It is great on your friends, who give you looks of amazement!
GimmickPro 16th Jun 11	haha Jess, I'm guessing your not american. I haven't seen David Blaine's trick, but if I had the reputation and money, Id put tiny hinges on the bottom to fold underneath and then fold back when putting the bitten off bit back.
Threedom4 21st Jun 11	Simple yet effective. :)