A solid plastic coin is placed flat inside the container, and the cover is put on. The cover has eight holes in it; you can see the coin inside the box. Each of eight spikes are then pushed through the holes in the box, and each goes right through the solid coin, pushing out through the bottom of the box! When the spikes are removed and the cover is opened, the solid coin is still laying flat in the box! This is really amazing- you can do the trick even if you don't know how it works!