The Mechanical Reverse evolved in clearly defined steps. The actual movement of the hand secretly flipping cards over from the fingertips to the palm was published in Henri Decremps' book, Le Testament de Jérôme Sharp, 1785, p. 161 of the Hugard translation, in the context of a Card at Any Number effect. This move used no cards as cover; it was just a secret deck flop. 134 years later, Louis F. Christianer published the same turnover mechanics, but under cover of the deck. Christianer included his move in The Magical Bulletin, Vol. 7 No. 6, June 1919, p. 55.

Dr. Ronald Wohl later added the now-common pinky wedge break and included it in ​Ibidem, No. 28, Apr. 1963, p. 36 (Wohl's ms. was written between ​April 1957 and March 1958). It wasn’t until Epilogue Special #2, 1975, p. 251, that Ken Krenzel jumped on board and gave it the name we now all use.