French drop
Sleight-of-hand magic trick
title: "French drop" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["magic-tricks", "coin-magic", "sleight-of-hand"] description: "Sleight-of-hand magic trick" topic_path: "general/magic-tricks" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drop" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Sleight-of-hand magic trick ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/FrenchDrop1.jpg" caption="First move of the French drop."] ::
The French drop, also known as "Le Tourniquet", is a sleight of hand method used by magicians to vanish a small object such as a coin or ball. It is one of the oldest methods of vanishing, however it is still effective when properly executed. Although the method is known as a vanish, it can also be used as a switch or transformation, giving rise to numerous possibilities.
Method
The object is held between the thumb and first two finger tips. When using a coin, it is held by its edges and tilted up slightly so it can be seen by the spectators. The other hand appears to take the coin, placing the thumb behind the coin and the fingers in front, however the coin is left behind and palmed.
References
References
- J.B.Bobo. (1982). "Modern Coin Magic". Courier Dover Publications.
- Paul Zenon. (2007). "Simple Sleight-of-Hand: Card and Coin Tricks for the Beginning Magician". The Rosen Publishing Group.
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