From the 19th and well into the 20th centuries, not all magicians had the sleight-of-hand skills of, for example, Alexander Herrmann, T. Nelson Downs, or Mercedes Talma. So magic manufacturers gave them plenty of help, creating and selling hidden pieces of apparatus that made it appear that the performer had that skill set. Harry Kellar was not above using such gadgets since he was not adept at the literal translation of prestidigitation; quick fingers.
Here we have one such piece, manufactured and sold by Joseph Bland at his London shop, which was founded in 1855. Its catalog title was descriptive: “The Wonderful and Novel ‘Apparatus’ For Catching Money,” and it allowed one to catch “in the air (one at a time), by the tips of his fingers with one hand, twelve pieces of money, and each time before catching a piece of money he shows the palms of his hands quite empty, then with the other hand catches twelve more coins.”
