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Coin Bending?


Roper

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I remember having sometime read from coin bending somewhere... has anyone tried it? I would think it would require quite a unique kind of strenght from the finger tips?

Edited by Roper
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I think it was primarily an old strongman stunt prior to todays coins.

Brookfield mentions it in his books. The older and foreign coins were

bigger in diameter and made of weaker metals...allowing them to

be bent. Todays coins would be near impossible....

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I have watched video of Stanless Steel bending pennies, putting a slight arc in them.

-Jedd-

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How does he go about bending them jedd?? like where does he palces them in hand ex.

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I bought some 1910's - 20's British pennies, about the same size as our quarter, and being older and thinner I think if somebody was exceptionally strong they could be warped. Not me yet :) Not sure of the technique. I have heard of many strong guys that could easily bend coins just as a bar trick, but when $500 is offered to see them they suddenly forget which bar they were in or the guy lost his hand in a tragic blimp accident....goodyear? no, the worst.... Naked Gun.

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What a coincidence... I just saw this post on Dragondoor.com

A story about coin bending

It's a claim from a guy who just saw his Russian Army friend bend various australian coins. 10 cent piece, 20 cent piece, 50 cent piece, and $2.00 coin.

I asked for proof!!

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What a coincidence... I just saw this post on Dragondoor.com

A story about coin bending

It's a claim from a guy who just saw his Russian Army friend bend various australian coins. 10 cent piece, 20 cent piece, 50 cent piece, and $2.00 coin.

I asked for proof!!

I think this guy is full of it!

Our $2 coin is only 1/16" bigger in diameter than a US penny and is twice as thick!

I was actually just coming over to post the same link when I saw this post!

I'll personally pay to see video of this feat!

Edited by Octogen
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Very interesting, if hard to believe. What are the materials used to make coins, and which one is softest etc. Should do some research on this. Please post the proof if you ever get it, Raziel.

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Can anyone here bend a clay/steel centered poker chip? I've tried and failed, but have yet to try with some leather padding.

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  • 7 years later...

Big Steve was bending coins in his teeth around 2005, if I recall correctly.

You run a risk of vertical fractures in your molars from the pressure. Not worth it IMO.

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That was some very interesting photoshop/video editing.................

LMFAO! I don't think I have ever seen anyone get so worked up on a video response about an online comment. I believe your feat is legit, so don't worry about those who doubt you. People will still doubt this video because that is just the nature of the beast. Good job anyway!

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You know that your doing something right when people start trash talking. People notice your talents and get afraid that now they may be living in your shadow. People get intimidated and fractious as a response. The amount of "that is fake" comments on my YouTube channel is mostly from people who wish they can do the feats that they are attesting to as being fraudulent. Good luck in your training. Are you going to cert the red?

You know that your doing something right when people start trash talking. People notice your talents and get afraid that now they may be living in your shadow. People get intimidated and fractious as a response. The amount of "that is fake" comments on my YouTube channel is mostly from people who wish they can do the feats that they are attesting to as being fraudulent. Good luck in your training. Are you going to cert the red?

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Jeff Flynn in Michigan can warp pennies. Pretty cool. I forget his technique, but he puts his hands down around his thighs, he doesn't use his teeth.

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Mike Dayton wrote about this stating that he started with cheap coins from the fair. Maybe starting with crappy made washers? IDK. I'm going for thumb pushups first.

I seriously want to be able to do this... I don't know of the best training method, but all I know is that it's going to take mad fingertip pressure.

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I've been meaning to put this up for a while, I guess I liked being one of the only ones able to bend a penny with fingers :) Plus I'm still working on getting the bend a little bigger, depends on the day and the penny.

From my pm to Bob:

I've been meaning to put something up, I'll probably edit this pm at some time and just put it as a post. Anyway I don't think bending a penny is that huge a feat, if people were training for it it wouldn't be uncommon. Its different but not that much harder than doubling a bottle cap - which many have done and JAD said he could do easily. I think with some technique innovations a penny might even be entry level like a 60d bend. After some messing around this is what I think to be the best way to train it.

Get some 20, 22, and 24 GA galvanized sheet steel http://www.metalsdep...Acc=%20&aident= You only need the smallest size sheet and some of this you can buy at home depot, lowes etc. Trace out a few pennies (maybe 3-4 of each) and cut them out with tin snips. I would put them in separate places and label because after a while you won't be able to tell the 20 and 22 apart. The 22 GA is going to be good for working with for a while, if its too hard to start with you can also trim a bit off the top and bottom (so you are still bending a penny's width, but not as much material).

The bending: I wrap my index fingers with about 7" of athletic tape to keep them from getting cut - stanless steel bends with a piece of cloth which doesn't seem to get mentioned in his articles - but I like the tape better. It doesn't seem to slide around and in my mind its cleaner to everyone watching - ie I don't have anything in my hands when I'm bending. I should point out I think there's no way you can 100% assure to an onlooker that you are not using sleight of hand, a coin is just too small and it gets too close to your body. I take my index fingers and my hands and press them into my right thigh. My right thumb goes on the bottom of the penny, closer to my body, and my left thumb on top and I press down with my thumbs. If somebody can find a way to press in effectively as we've seen with short steel bending, I think that could be a big improvement but I haven't yet gotten that to work for me - its almost all downward pressure.

I would build a base with the 22 ga before doing anything harder, maybe a few weeks. I've dislocated my thumb temporarily doing thumb stuff before so it could be possible with this. After a while you can try the 20 ga and the 22 ga with one or two 24 ga's on top of it. A penny is about as hard as a 20 and 22 ga bent together. When you're getting the 20 ga pretty solidly you can take a penny and drill a small hole in it and bend that, and you can use that penny plus a 24ga or 2 as a bridge to the next smallest hole.

Pennies: Pennies after 1991 are mainly zinc and are much easier to bend! I haven't yet bent an older copper penny, or even one with a small hole in it.

Flattening your metal: So you're not going through and cutting out tons of sheet steel I take ones I've bent and re-flatten them. I use an anvil and hammer but you can also use 2 plates, set the metal on top of a 10 and slap it with another 10 to flatten it. This is great once you get to pennies with small holes in them - pennies vary but you know you're getting stronger if you flatten the same one and re-bend it with a 24 ga on it. After a while flattening your metal makes it larger and easier but it takes quite a while and then you just cut out another one.

Final thoughts: I've bent stuff like washers, and stainless, and even a piece of a heater grate but I really think those 3 sizes of sheet steel are the most consistent and all you need + pennies of course. I think a penny could be bent without any tape or cloth and I might try that in the future after I can get a penny more convincingly in one go. Not sure if quarters are humanly possible I have one with a 1/2" hole in it that I can't do anything with - but I might need to look for older quarters made of different material.

Good luck!

Jeff

Edited by AP
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Actually... that's not that bad of an idea... the sheet metal. You could cover it in duct tape to protect yourself.

I wrap my fingers. Taping the metal, it will slide off as well as changing the dimensions of it. I don't know, its a good idea though. I wonder if bending a taped penny would seem less impressive/more of a trick to an audience?
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I'd like to try one of those english pennies, they def sound possible. But then the material they're made of will make a huge difference even if they aren't that thick.

Also, from my post above I just want to make completely clear that I am not diminishing Stanless Steel's feat of bending a penny, nor do I think he is faking or cheating it in any way. I've been working on pennies for about 3.5 years so I know that a lot of time and pain goes into it.

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