I would like to find out everyone's take on cutting up notes/Coins for the sake of magic. i will post my comments later.

Quick post before i disappear under my homework load --

First thing is, cutting notes ie. paper money is ILLEGAL.
I've no idea how one may cut a coin though. :P

My take on this is that, basically, you want to entertain people with magic. You don't really want to go to jail BECAUSE you were doing magic. :blink:

I'm sure there's some other things that we can use to replace the effect that requires cutting up money. If not, maybe try and come up with another handling that don't require that you cut up the money.

A.

PS.
:off:
same with effects that require signing on the money. (its illegal) But you can always find alternatives by asking them to remember the serial no. etc. If its coins, signing is ok. Just wash with salt plus vinegar after that.

Singapore coins are meanies when you want to cut them. My friend did managed to make bite coins out of $1 coins though... after hours of blood and sweat.

Anyway I'm not really sure about the illegal issues here. The Rules here are super stringent as compared to states. Imagine is there;s a Fraud: Singapore. Won't be suprised if the creator's face makes the front page of the Straight Times.

My advice is that if you want to do an effect involving our local currency is to not get caught (extreme example is to do Fraud in front of a policeman). Try it on friends and people you know. Say family gatherings would be a good time to pull these off.

The biggest thing you must remember is that whatever it is, do NOT attempt to use the 'modified' money. I'm not sure if the US jurisdiction is the same here. Basically they say something like you can write on the note or do something to it but it becomes illegal if you try to use it for transaction.

I manage to talk to a guy from the US Treasury and i think he did mention that they are not allowed to cut up coins, but i believed that the rule there is mroe relax.

From what I heard form my friend, if there is less then 5% marking on the note it is alright.

Adrian

Hello...

I am not a money/coin magic expert, but honestly, I do not believe you will go to jail because you were halfway through a torn-and-restored bill routine when the police came.

Plus, how many effects are there on the market, where you tear the bill (probably for identification purposes) and not restore it later?

About signing bills, I cannot imagine any thick-headed spectator, after seeing someone sign on a bill in context of a magic trick, suddenly whip out his handphone and call 999, because someone just did something SO D*MN ILLEGAL.

Also, if someone receives the signed bill at the end of the effect, will he/she suddenly rush to the nearest police post and report your illegal act?

And I think it is ridiculous to have the cuffs on you when you bite a coin to impress your friends.

You: "Hey guys, look, I am Blaine incarnate!"
Friends: "Yea right man, prove it."
You: "See this coin? Look..." *bites and shows bitten coin*
Friends: "OH MY GOD!!!"
Police: "You are under arrest, sir, for biting our sacred Singapore currency."

I seriously do not think police will arrest you if you somehow damage Singapore currency.

- harapan ong

I agree with you that it would be a problem. But just to be caution. Currently the number of gimmick Singapore coins are so few that i think it would not cause a problem. but what if every magician in Singapore have a gimmick coin on their hand. I am not only taking about coin bite only, imagine there are shells, steel core, magnetic core and more. i believe they would take action when that happens. i just don't want any magician to get caught in trouble with the law for the love of the art, although i believe many would do that.

Adrian