I also had no problem exchanging my bills.

I stand corrected.
I initially had doubts about this trick—and I had posted comments about the video clip, feeling they cut away from the trick. not expose weak points. I've been led down that garden path so many times that I thought it to be the case again. Well I decided to buy it, based on comments on the forum, and I'm happy to say I love this effect!!

Hat's off to you Mr G!

Good for you Marco!

I couldn't agree more, I think this is one of the best effects to come out in a while. It is absolutely brilliant!

It is not like a regular bill change, where you have them examine a one dollar bill (or borrow one), and then change it to a hundred, and have them examine it again. Sometimes I feel like that sets up a test conditions type of challenge.

Greed is more light hearted, and eye popping visual magic. You are already moving on to the next phase before people have a chance to think about how you accomplished the last change. It ends on a surprising and comical ending, and doesn't leave the spectators trying to figure it out. They just enjoy it.

Two thumbs up for Greed!

Matt

I like the kicker ending of the trick. I use it, as suggested in the manuscript, to merge into coin magic, specifically Alex Linian's Puncture. I twisted the end a bit (use DC's "how about 25" line) and then proceed to stick pens through coins. It's quite fun, really, and then you have an even more exciting prop to hand out for examination.

I also move from Greed to a 4 coin trick which is a great excuse to reach into my pocket and ditch the bill. To those who are wondering about banks exchanging the bills, I actually used my $20 to buy coffee the other day. The clerk had to ask her boss, but as I explained to her, it's legitimate with more than half the bill.

Fair enough. But for others that might be considering, Gregory Wilson's Foreign Affair is amazing for that. It's found in his "In Action" series on volume 3.

It's similar to greed. "Foreign Affair - Each time you fold a one dollar bill, it changes into another country's currency—from a Pound to a Euro to a Ruble to a Yen—and finally into a perfectly examinable hundred dollar bill!"

It's one of my favorite effects, and I think Greed would play just as well using foreign currency.

Sincerely,
Wayne Stevenson
The SpookClub

Anyone try printing the gimmick?

I noticed that those Million dollar bills you get are printed on a linen paper, which I've been toying with for printing cards (doesn't work to well for that ) but I imagine you could print these so that you don't have to waste money.

Seeing as how they would be partial bills there should be no counterfit issue, and they aren't examined by the spec so I doubt the quality is an issue.

I hate this too !!! I have an even bigger problem here in romania.
not only are the bills not equal in size but our bills are not made out of paper ... they are plastic !!! you can't build anything out of these.
I got so ****ed and still built the gimmick and went out to see how that plays.
the first group of people I did it for flipped.i think they even forgot that I was using U.S. dollars when the effect was done.
I had one guy who asked me why I use dollars. by the time his question came out I was already into the switch displaying a romanian coin and I think that was what shut him up.so , memory-jah I suggest you build the gimmick and go try it out. end with a euro coin and I think you'll be fine.
there are lots of tourists visitng my home town all the time. I love performing for them. lots of americans visit and they don;t complain about the bills
all the best

-Matt

You can comment on the comparison of the US dollar to your own, or perhaps about American tourists tipping with one dollar bills.

I actually did this for fun, granted I have actually worked it out nicely with Canadian, but I had an American gimmick too and commented on how the Americans just toss aside their one dollar bills like their nothing. Then patter about how I wish the did that with their fives etc...

Posted: Aug 9, 2006 12:38am
Ok, so for those doing it with Canadian, DEFINATELY try it with printing your own as it will cost you a minimum of thirty $ to make it, and it seems that banks are now having the policy that they need both serial numbers on the bill to replace it.

Don't know why, as long as you have more then half the bill and a full serial number then they should replace it because that means that the other piece is LESS then half, so there is no way to get two bills from one and people also don't get ****ed if a bill is torn and they loss a piece.

To get a bill replaced, you need at least a full serial number and a significant portion of the serial number on the other side. My mother, who is a teller at a bank, told me that the twenty should be exchanged, or even used in real stores, but there might be banks that will refuse the ten because it's missing a part of the second serial number.

Yeah, which really doesn't make much sense to me at least.

If there is one FULL serial number, and clearly MORE then HALF of the bill, there should be no problem with replacing it.

The concern, as was told to me by my bank, is that some one could use the other serial number for a new bill as well, but that is why you need to clearly have more then half of the bill.

What is the point of having most or all of the second number any way? In replacing a damaged bill that is.

Any who, this is why I suggest printing, at the very least, the 10 and the 20 parts. Also good because you can photoshop them to be as needed. Those who have it will probably know what I mean.

I am having some trouble doing the snap change at the end of this trick. When I extend my middle finger and do the change, I cannot get the bill to end up clipped between the middle and first fingers correctly. It is usually sticking out too far under the coin. Can someone give me some tips as to how to fix this. I have watched the video repeatedly, but still cant figure out what I am doing wrong.

I had no problem getting "rid" of the $20 to a Quick Check (a "7-11" type of store that also sells Gasoline) while buying a candy bar. The clerk said she'd except it because part of the 2nd serial number is visable.

I have to still get "rid" of my $10. . . This bill, however, may be a big problem, because NONE of the 2nd serial number is present. Any tips on getting "rid" of this bill???

I brought the bills to 2 different banks and BOTH refused to exchange them due to 2 WHOLE serial numbers need to be present on each bill as stated in a few posts up from this one in this forum.

What about sending the "chopped-up, but 75% or more intact" bills to the U.S. Treasury in Philadelphia?? Is that a possibility, or will you basically say "Bye-Bye" to $30 sent there?? Check this website out:

http://www.bep.treas.gov/section.cfm/8/39

Is anyone familiar with this website and do these "chopped-up" bills to construct the GREED Gimmick warrant an appropriate exchange??

Obviously, I am looking for the fastest and easiest way to exchange them.

Thanks

My experience exchanging the cut up bills:

My wife was rejected at the local bank being told that '3 corners' needed to be intact in order to exchange the bills. The teller, in fact, sorta giggled at the request and most unprofessionally made my wife feel foolish for even asking.

I copied the website US BEP website info and went back to the bank. Same teller, same answer (same smartass attitude). I asked to speak to the manager.

Manager tells me the same thing. I hand him the US BEP policy (if more than 50% of the bill is intact it will be exchanged by commercial banks) and he stills insisted that the 3 corner policy is what they've always adhered to and that I should send the bills to the US BEP for an exchange.

I said that if I were to remove the entire inside of a bill leaving only the outside border that I would have FOUR corners intact. Would he then exchange THAT bill?

He laughed it off and said there was nothing he could do.

I asked him that since the bank had a different policy than the people who actually made the money in the first place that someone is obviously wrong. I then asked him if he had any written documentation on this '3 corner' policy as I would like to continue up the ladder investigating this inconsistency in policies.

As a long time customer he asked me to have a seat as he would be right back with the information.

He returned a few minutes later with what appeared to be a thick Standard Operating Procedures Manual of some sort. A minute or so of searching and he looks up to me, chagrined, and says "you're right". He showed me where their policy was in fact verbatum to that of the USBEP policy.

He apologized for not knowing where his '3 corner' policy came from and told the teller to exchange my bills.

I was quite tempted to rub this into that teller's face but restrained myself as I knew that I would be returning to exchange bills to her and only her in the future.

Taking the manager of a bank to school was quite satisfying.

Charlie Justice,
I hope that was as good for you as it was for me?

Ok-- I FINALLY got rid of the bills today. Here's the story. . .

3 different name bank companies in New Jersey (including my own bank & branch) REFUSED to exchange them. I asked all 3 to show me written documentation of their policy of "2 whole serial numbers need to be present on each bill" despite showing them my printed documented webpage from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) (see a post above with its weblink) stating:


A NON-Mutilated Bill is "Any badly soiled, dirty, defaced, disintegrated, limp, torn, worn, out currency note that is CLEARLY MORE than one-half of the original note, and does not require special examination to determine its value. These notes should be exchanged through your local bank and processed by the Federal Reserve Bank."


All 3 banks said it was their own branch's discretion, where their manager has the final say. They stated that there is NO written policy for that matter, whether in a protocol book or any other paper form (which I found was a bit odd in our bureaucratic world in this day and age). I even called up the bank's customer service using their own telephone line telling them the same issue with my bills. They all said that there is NO written document and they would NOT write me one stating that each bill needs 2 serial numbers. I then called the BEP myself and they told me that it is the decision of the individual bank. However, mailing it to them would reassure me that it would be exchanged in the form of a check, but it would take 6-8 weeks and I needed to send it as registered mail (another $5).

One thing the customer service representative stated to me of the bank was to try to spend the money at a store and maybe someone would accept it. I thought this was very peculiar coming from the bank to say, especially because THEY would not accept the bills themselves. I laughed it off-- What's this country coming to??

Anyway, I took that advice, to bypass the 6-8 week process. I went to Walmart. I bought a box a crackers and just handed him (about a 17 year old "boy") the $10. (I didn't mention anything to him and he took it with only seeing it being a "folded" $10 and put it right in the register). I walked out of Walmart.

I then went to a Dunkin' Donuts and bought a bagel. The clerk (a "foreigner") took the $20 (I didn't mention anything about it while handing him it). He asked me "Is this good?". I responded "I guess-- I mean 75% of the bill is still intact." He shrugged his shoulders and continued to put it in his register. He handed me the changed. I walked out of Dunkin' Donuts.

Amazing how I wanted to do the right thing by spending about an hour running around 3 different banks and talking to numerous managers there. . . Only to find out that (with their own "crooked" advice) I spent just 10 minutes to get rid of the bills. Now it is someone else's headache.

Sorry for the long anecdote, but although funny, it might be helpful to someone skeptical trying to get rid of the bills and trying to avoid buying this wonderful trick because of some "hidden" costs to make the gimmick.

I am sure that other people have funny and interesting stories.


Remember. . . .

"TRAGEDY + TIME = COMEDY"

I have to say I haven't seen Hundy 500 but do own, and have performed Greed before. I have to say that it doesn't bother me about not ending clean, and I'm not even all that amazing at sleight of hand. The routine is great and gets a good reaction, especially the ending. All this talk of Hundy being better because you can hand out the hundred dollar bill for examination afterwards does raise one question though, am I the only person who would not feel remotely comfortable handing a perfectly good note worth that much to a complete stranger? Could just be me.

Will