My set came a little dull and tarnished, but that was nothing a little Brasso didn't quickly take
care of. You get just the four game tokens, a shell and a little velvet bag. Toss the bag - it's
too small and will wear thin quickly. Get yourself a proper leather coin purse to carry these in.
The quality of these gaming tokens is good. They are from, (or appear to authentically be
from), the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas. They are slightly smaller than a silver dollar, (if you put
one against a silver dollar - I used a Peace dollar - these gaming tokens fit just inside the raised
rim of the dollar). Their edges at not milled, (meaning they are smooth). I thought that may
affect palming these coins, but so far, it has not.
The shell is well made and though it sits a
little higher on the coin than some of my custom-made shells do on my dollars, (for which I paid a
hefty sum); if you shine these coins up, the sheen actually helps hide the edge of the shell. I know
where it is, but any layman looking right at it won't. I have a friend who has a set of these that
he got directly from the creator, and the shell sits very deep on the coins, so perhaps the shell
seating varies by set. In any case, it's a well-made shell and when everything is polished, its edge
is nearly invisible and certainly not detectable in motion.
There are no instructions or
suggestions for use or care; so I assumed they were brass and used Brasso accordingly to clean them.
Apparently, I was correct. If you don't already have any routines that utilize a shell, you'll need
to get one on your own; as this is a simple packaged set of utility coins and not a "trick".
If you're wanting to move from half dollars to dollar sized coins and shells, this is a good
step in that transition. If you're doing a Vegas or gambling routine in your show, this is a good
addition. If paying several hundreds of dollars for custom dollar sets, this is an affordable option
and a wise investment.
I still prefer my silver dollars, but this is a good, "every day" set
and it's good enough quality for serious workers.
1 of 1 magicians found this helpful.
I agree with everything that Robert said. My set came a little dull and tarnished as well, but it
still looks great. And it's very easy to clean if you know how to (but honestly, it's optional and
I'll explain why).
First of all, it's not silver as the photo shows. When you get it clean,
you can see that it have a silver/goldish look. Also, the more tarnished it gets, the more "goldish"
it becomes (and still sparkle and looks good). Bob Kohler words: "The tokens have some very
interesting characteristics. First the metal is much harder than silver so the set will be more
durable. Second, the metal is impregnated with an anti-corrosive to keep the tokens looking great
under extreme use i.e. slot machines."
The shell is a masterpiece and the tokens are heavy.
They are great to handle. The coins are not atracted by magnets... some will find it good, some will
find it bad. Since it's slightly smaller than the dollar size, you don't have to worry about the
shell not fitting an okito box. The shell have a tight fit so the nest have pretty much no talk (but
you can take it out very easily).
If you're ok with the size, the color, the weight and the
fact that it won't be atracted to magnet, than you must buy it. They're beautifull (clean or
tarnished) and they will last you forever. The craftmanship is very impressive.