Apr 13, 20225 min read

How To Palm A Coin: The Classic Palm

Updated: May 17

Do you want to learn how to palm a coin?

Classic Palming is a sleight-of-hand trick that can make it seem like a coin, ball, or other object has disappeared into thin air.

This is a great place to start if you want to pull off some fun magic tricks that will wow your friends and family.

But before you get started with Classic Palming, it's essential to understand the basics.

To classic palm, a coin or small object, magicians use sleight of hand techniques to secretly hide the thing in their palm by manipulating the position of their fingers and hand muscles to hold the object secretly.

To the audience, it appears that it's completely vanished!

Palming allows a magician to secretly hold a coin in their hand while showing the audience that their hand is "empty."

The muscles of your thumb and fingers grip the object secretly from the audience's view. This grip gives the magician some hand function and natural movements.

Magicians use this trick to create false impressions of their actions, such as making a spectator's borrowed coin disappear and reappear.

Let's take a look at how to palm a coin.

In this article, we'll cover these topics for palming a coin:

What's the best palming coin?
Where to place the coin in your palm
What pressures hold the palmed coin?
How to display your hands empty?
VIDEO: Classic Palm
Tips & Suggestions for coin palms
Conclusion

How to palm a coin or small object

Palming coins or making coins seemingly appear from nowhere is a useful sleight-of-hand technique that will provide unlimited opportunities to entertain friends, family, and coworkers.

Here are the steps to palming a coin with The Classic Palm.

Step 1: Selecting A Coin

When just starting, choose a larger coin like a half-dollar or fifty-cent piece.

Holding the larger coin will make your hand look more natural as you palm a smaller coin.

Only use a quarter if your hands are tiny.

Step 2: Placement

Place a coin in the base of your palm.

This area can clutch and hold a coin in place when the hand muscles contract.

Curl your fingers into your palm or turn it, so your palm faces down when you make a fist to hide the coin from view.

Step 3: Pressure

To hide a coin in your hand, press it into the palm of your hand, then contract your thumb muscle by bringing your thumb closer to the center of your hand.

Hold your hand facing down, and you should be able to conceal the coin from the audience's view.

Practice will help you perfect this skill until the sleight of your hand becomes so natural that it is hard for anyone to detect that you are concealing a coin in your hand.

Step 4: Display Your Hand Empty

It's easy to show how empty your hand is while keeping a coin hidden in your palm. Just wiggle your fingers and show them you don't have anything in your hand.

The wiggle should be subtle, not overdone.

VIDEO: How To Classic Palm A Coin

Here's a step-by-step video showing how to palm a coin or small object.

Tips & Suggestions.

Classic Palming is the name given to a particular sleight-of-hand technique used in magic by magicians. Here are a few tips:

Bigger coins are easier to palm.

The size of the coin chosen for this trick is important.

The smaller the coin, the more difficult it will be for the magician to pull off the trick without being caught.

A larger coin will be easier to palm and manipulate in one's hands, making this trick much easier.

Learn with your dominant hand

Everyone has slightly different hand sizes, shapes, and dexterity levels.

You'll need to find your positioning for this move.

Start by learning with your dominant hand, then try it out with your non-dominant hand.

Make a fist with your fingers, then open your hand while keeping your fingers together.

Then place the coin in the center of your palm.

Directly below the middle finger, fold your fingers into a fist again.

Your thumb should be resting on top of the coin. Move your thumb toward your palm and grip the coin by squeezing the thumb and small finger muscles.

You should be able to hold the coin freely and have natural looking posture.

Practice gripping and releasing the coin to get used to moving it in and out of sight quickly.

Now try it with your non-dominant hand so you can be ambidextrous!

Practice makes perfect

You need to be able to hide an object in your hand without anyone noticing.

You'll need to practice this so your hand looks relaxed and natural.

You'll also learn how big an object you can palm. You can get away with almost anything with the right misdirection and practice.

Classic Palm Exercises

There's no shortage of tips, tricks, and gimmicks to help you perfect your palming technique. But sometimes, it's the simplest things that work the best.

For example, one trick I've used to help build up my grip strength is simply using a staple remover with my pinky finger.

This forces me to develop the muscles I need for palming and helps me get used to using my pinky.

You can also try to lift a small rock or object off a table without touching it.

Like anything, palming coins takes practice.

The first step is getting used to the technique. I found a Theory11 forum post with good ideas:

Here are the main takeaways:

Smooth coins may be easier to grip than grooved ones.
Coins will be easier to palm if placed deeper into the palm. You can achieve that by pressing a little harder with your fingers.
To build strength, try palming more than one coin at a time!
If you've already mastered coin palming, consider learning advanced moves like the muscle pass or finger twirl.

Purchasing Palming Coins

Magicians have special coins for palming.

These are usually made of lighter metal and larger than standard coins.

They are thinner, so griping them with your fingers is easier.

Many stage performers and manipulators use palming coins on stage because they are more visible to the audience and easier for the magician to manipulate.