sponsored by:
Brunel University, The Royal Institution and Institute of Physics

- a valuable, novel educational tool?
- an attractive family, company or diplomatic present?

Will 2015 be the last Original Magic Penny Festive Season?

As the present British 1p and 2p coins near the inevitable end of their official life, the Magic Penny Trust is pleased to announce that a new enlarged 4th Edition of its Award-winning Magic Penny Magnetism Kit, has just been launched in the UK and US.

In all, over 100,000 kits with their specially designed stainless steel covered ceramic block magnets have now been sold (principally in the US), since the launch of the First Edition in the UK in 1995.

Freshly minted 5p and 10p UK coins made of nickel-plated steel, are now included in the kit , in addition to much loved shiny 1p and 2p copper-plated coins which are slowly disappearing from everyday use.

The book "Investigating Magnetism" included in the kit, has been expanded (now 80 pages). 44 hands-on experiments which all can enjoy are outlined and clearly illustrated with supporting scientific information.

Most of the experiments are completely novel and based on ORIGINAL DISCOVERIES made by the Trust since 1993.

These ORIGINAL DISCOVERIES continue to amaze experienced scientists , engineers and lay persons, young and old, alike. They provide a basis for demonstrating, in a completely novel way, the properties of MAGNETIC FIELDS and the geometry of CIRCLE PACKING, relevant to science and engineering generally. Photographs published in the Proceedings of the Bridges 2015 Mathematics and Art Conference in Baltimore have been much praised.

The ORIGINAL DISCOVERIES also open up a wealth of opportunities for CREATIVITY and ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. They have been shown to lead to a lot of fun. INTERACTIVE MODELS based on them have proved to be extremely popular with the media and at family SCIENCE and ENGINEERING outreach events internationally.

The recent GRAVITY-MAGNETISM BALANCING discoveries described for the first time in this edition are particularly spectacular. Two videos of the 4 COINS on a WINEGLASS demonstration , one filmed in the UK and another filmed in the USA have each attracted over 700,000 views on Youtube

And all stemming from the finding in 1993 of a car keybox with a British penny stuck to it; asking "why?" and "what if?" and designing suitable safe magnets to help answer the questions.

    More information and links to VIDEOS and photographs

"Brunel Arch" - a non-magnetic coin, here a real UK 2 pound coin featuring a portrait of the engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is held in place by magnetic coins standing vertically on two Magic Penny magnets. - this is a variation of the "Lincoln Arch " described in this latest edition using the 1cent US coin included. Real UK coins balanced on the edge of a real UK 20 pound note. The reverse of the note features a portrait of Michael Faraday and an engraving based on his work at The Royal Institution in London.