Pennyhedron

The Pennyhedron is actually a family of puzzles which form the shape of a rhombic dodecahedron, and which separate into two mirror image pieces. When carefully made, the seams do not give away where the puzzle separates.

The most commonly produced version of the Pennyhedron is the three-finger grasp version. The beauty of this simple design is that people naturally tend to hold opposite faces when trying to open the puzzle... This will never work because squeezing opposite faces together is always going to hold the puzzle tightly shut, no matter which set of opposite faces is chosen. As the name suggests, you need to use a three finger grasp with both hands having the fingers from one hand on every other face. Even using this proper grasping technique, success is not guaranteed because there are eight different ways to hold the puzzle in this manner, only one of which will actually work -- you must hunt systematically until you find the correct orientation.

Another commonly seen version of the Pennyhedron is the two-finger grasp which people
generally tend to have an easier time getting apart. With this one, the puzzle must be held by opposite corners (the corners where four faces meet rather than the ones where three faces meet). There are six different ways to do this, only one of which will work, so again the solver is forced to do a little trial and error work in order to systematically find the correct orientation.

Stewart Coffin also came up with other ways to dissect the rhombic dodecahedron into two interlocking pieces, many of which he produced in limited quantities using scraps which he accumulated from making other puzzles. In his book "Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections", Coffin writes:

When our three children were quite small, they used to spend hours in my workshop patiently gluing together little scraps of fancy woods to make "puzzles" for their friends. One time we had a surplus of truncated rhombic pyramid blocks which they industriously glued together all different ways. What emerged from this was a simple two-piece dissection of the rhombic dodecahedron...

We made and sold these for a few years. The kids used to put a penny inside, hence the name. I think they used up all the scraps and got interested in other things at about the same time, and production ceased. We tinkered with many variations. The only limit here is your imagination. There are truncated and stellated versions, rounded, three-piece, and multicolored ones. There are nesting sets in which each one is different.

Every glue joint is internally reinforced with three small steel dowel pins (36 total!) for the utmost in precision alignment, durability, and ease of do-it-yourself repair should the need ever arise. Crafted with attention to detail which is second to none, you will never find a higher quality Pennyhedron for sale anywhere else in the world. In addition to the artist's signature and date of production, the name of each variety of wood used is also laser-etched onto the interior puzzle. About 40 copies made in March 2010 batch, with more production planned for later in the year. Ships disassembled.

NOTE: After careful inspection, this puzzle qualifies for Lee Krasnow's Grade B (play grade) quality rating -- pieces may contain small chips, dings, cracks or other defects which are so minor as to be almost unnoticeable. Collectors looking for a puzzle to play with will likely want to purchase Grade B quality. Collectors looking for a "showpiece" puzzle to put on display behind glass will likely want to purchase Grade A quality work.