30 years ago, I did a trick that had me vanish a marked coin to have it re-appear inside a bag that was inside a match box. The gimmick was, what I call, a coin slide. I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about, but does anyone know where I can find this "slide"?

I remember that trick ... I also had it many years ago.
The "slide" itself is easy enough to make ... just use your imagination.
Get yourself a thin piece of metal and bend it into the "slide" shape you need. Since the audience never sees it, it doesn't really matter how perfect it is.

If you searched around online long enough, you could probably find someone selling an old coin slide. Like Frijid says, though, you might as well just make it yourself, which is what most of us end up doing.

You can make one out of metal, but you can also make one out of cardboard more easily. One thing you can start with is a toilet paper or paper towel tube. Glue in some spacers to keep it from collapsing (coat hanger wire works)... there you go. You can also buy artist/photographer mounting board (stuiff cardboard,,, black on one side, white on the other) and make it out of that.

I could be wrong, but I believe you can find instructions for constructing a slide in Tarbell.

I thought so to! I went through volumes 1 -5 last night and didn't see it. I'll check the rest when I get home.

Look for "Coin in Ball of Yarn." That's the routine in which the slide is usually explained. Might not be in Tarbell, but it's definitely out there. I think the first book I found it in was The Golden Book of Magic by "The Great Merlini" (Clayton Rawson).

I just assumed to make it out of card board. You could probably use a playing card

Yep. Not a bad idea, as long as you can deal with the potential for squashing or bending the slide. That's the primary downside to cardboard.

If the slide pinches shut or gets a crimp in it, the coin could get stuck, which is not a good thing.

I've seen this in Mark wilsons complete course in magic.

The trick you are refering to is called the Magic Coin Box. It can be purchased here - http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorde ... hp?ID=7130

Actually, cardboard is OK and you can run a strip of metal from a wire hanger down each side for support, but it won't work for me. This one is going to need to get wet and cardboard won't hold up to that.

Is this really the same thing?

Not really but I think the slide is the same. I think I still have a slide from the trick "Fire Trap" which is still available at http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=2348

Okay... it' sprobably a lot easier to just buy any of the effects listed that include slides, but since it can be fun to be cheap and experiment with found magic, here's something to think about:

If you happen to have an old vacuum cleaner you no longer use or have access to old vacuum cleaner attachments (maybe you run a vacuum cleaner attachment museum), look for the long, flat, hose attachment used to reach under furniture and into narrow spaces (it's called a "crevice tool":

http://www.totalvac.com/accessory/parts ... 0-3ES.html

If you can get one form a handheld vacuum (like the Shark), it'll be smaller, but a standard size one will work and give you a wider range of possible coins.

Cut off the ends to get the length you need; sand the rough spots; make sure there is no "lip" inside the catch the coin. There you go. Coin slide.


Of course, you could just buy some sheet metal and bend yourself a slide... but where's the fun in that?


Another alternative is to go to a dollar store that sells cheap magic. There's an effect in which a coin placed in a sliding drawer vanishes and reappears when the drawer is open and shut:

http://magic.about.com/od/libraryofsimp ... nslide.htm

http://www.magictrickstore.net/magiccoinslide/index.htm

You can find them for a buck or two. The outer case that the flat drawer slides in and out of is the right size for a slide. Just rip out the guts.

I thought that you already had the materials you needed and just needed the actual coin slide, which is included with that effect.

I think the problem is that he had the slide "30 years ago...", doesn't have it anymore, and wants one now.