Coins in Glass. European, late 19th century. Victorian-era apparatus allows the magician to make a small quantity of coins appear in a covered glass resting atop a velvet-covered platform as a fan is waved at the equipment. Well-made and concealed internal brass mechanism drops one coin at a time into the covered glass; mechanism is activated by a table piston. Original mechanism and wooden base housed in a well-crafted contemporary plush-covered wooden case with cover approximating the look of the original prop. Included is the original well-worn velvet-covered box/shell, and a later metal cover for the glass. Originally part of the fabled McManus collection (and possibly considered one of his “prizes"); the bottom of the case bears the hand-painted inventory number of the Circus Museum of Sarasota. The newer elements of the device were faithfully constructed by noted German craftsman Rudiger Deutsch in 2010.