This Ace Assembly using three double-faced cards was invented by J. N. Hofzinser no later than 1847 and was first published in Ottokar Fischer's J. N. Hofzinser Kartenkünste, 1910, pp. 58-78; and S. H. Sharpe's English translation, J. N. Hofzinser's Card Conjuring, 1931, pp. 69-80. For full details, see “The Power of Faith” and “The Four Kings” in Magic Christian's J. N. Hofzinser: Non Plus Ultra, Vol. 2, 2004, German edition, pp. 128-37; and 2013, English edition, pp. 144–62.

The first published instance of Hofzinser's idea was Kaufmann's “Prepared Four Ace Trick” in Mahatma, Vol. 7 No. 11, May 1904, p. 125, six years before Fischer's publication of Hofzinser's material.

This Ace Assembly became widely known as “MacDonald's Aces” when Jon “Mac” McDonald’s handling was published as “McDonald's $100 Routine” in Dai Vernon’s More Inner Secrets of Card Magic, Lewis Ganson, 1960, p. 26.

The first version of this trick in which each Ace was vanished from its packet in a different manner was by Ken Krenzel in M-U-M, Vol. 51 No. 3, Aug. 1962, p. 108, under the title “Those Extra Touches”.

Larry Jennings's “MacJennings Aces” from Genii, Vol. 62 No. 1, Jan. 1999, p. 39, was the first published instance of a “backfire” or “reverse assembly” coda to the Hofzinser approach to the Ace Assembly.