This information provided via the courtesy of Vintage Slots of Colorado, Inc.

If you have an antique coin machine and want to sell it, please send me an email. If I am not interested in it, I will forward your email to a collector who probably is.


The following information is the web version of Coin Op on CD which was a book all about antique coin machines and it was distributed on a CD-ROM. This book was written in 1995 and sold in 1996. Please take this into consideration when reading the articles. There are no plans to come out with version 2. However, we do plan on periodically updating the information on the web version.
The CD version of the book has pricing information as well as a dealer directory. Since the prices are out of date and many of the dealers/collectors may no longer be collecting the machine we have purposely left this information out of the web version. However, we do keep in contact with many dealers and collectors who are actively buying and selling machines and would be happy to put you in touch with one if you have a machine you are looking to sell.

If you are looking to purchase an antique coin machine you may also send me an email and I will put you in touch with a reputable dealer. Odds are, I will not be selling the machine you are looking for (since I rarely sell any machines).

Pricing Knowledge is Widespread

By Dick Bueschel

Is vintage coin machine pricing a secret? Apparently not. While many of the questions we receive for this column ask about values, once you get out into the countryside these values seem to be fairly well established and understood. This was once again reaffirmed when I ventured out into the hinterlands of Western Michigan to attend an auction last July. Actually, the event was a clever idea. When Katey Halberg and Nancy Dingler took over the Memory Lane Antiques Mall in North Muskegon, Michigan, last year they decided one way to attract traffic was to hold an annual Antique and collectible Auction in their ample parking lot. That way people interested in antiques would track down an auction, and end up on the mall grounds. The attraction of a well filled mall, as well as available johns, would build traffic. But the idea almost backfired on them. When the lot filled up a year ago some folks got the idea that the mall was folding, selling everything off and going out of business. It took the 2nd Annual Auction on July 15, 1995 to solidify the fact that it wasn't, and the yearly auction was yet another attraction of the booth filled mall.
What pulled me in was the fact that the auction flyer listed a slot machine, as well as a number of National and Stoner candy and cigarette venders. My interest was the slot, listed as a "Columbia #446 5› slot machine." That was enough of a description to get my juices flowing, identify the machine and determine its value. The COLUMBIA slot was manufactured by the Groetchen Tool & Manufacturing Company in Chicago in a variety of models from 1936 through 1948, with an allowance of four years off for World War II, 1942-1945. Never a powerhouse slot, somewhat smaller in size than most, the COLUMBIA has a clever feature. The coins going in drop into a rotary carousel escalator, so when you get a winner the last coins played in get paid out. That means that someone trying to slug the machine will only win their slugs back in most cases. So that made it a money maker. It was also an inexpensive slot, selling for around $50 new while the other larger Mills, Jennings and Watling machines sold for around $100 at the time. Even as a collectible the COLUMBIA is not a major piece, with retail value listed at $650 in the book A Collector's Guide to Vintage COIN MACHINES, which means it would sell for around $325 or somewhat more wholesale, depending on condition.
It wasn't the first item put up, and anyone interested had to wait around for about an hour before the COLUMBIA went under the hammer. And that's when the auctioneer palaver began: "Here we have a slot machine, and I know a lot of people have been waiting for this one, so pay attention. We had one last year, and it went for $3,200, so let's start the bidding at $3,000. Do I have a bid at three thousand. Two thousand? One thousand five hundred. Where do you want to start this thing? What am I bid for this slot machine?"
What the good auctioneer didn't tell us was what kind of slot machine brought in $3,200 last year. Only a few are in that range. Maybe a Watling ROL-A-TOP, or something else as noteworthy. But certainly not a Groetchen COLUMBIA. I wondered what would happen, and particularly if some nut believed the gab and went for big dollars. No one did! I was amazed. The starting bid was $250. It went to $275 in a hurry, and I was in it to $375 (I'm a notoriously cheap buyer; it's the only way you can build a collection on a budget). The moment it got over $400 dealers were doing the bidding. One shook out at $475 and a second at $525, so a third buyer walked away with it at that price. I asked him; "Are you a collector? What are you going to do with that machine." The answer was, "No. I'm a dealer, and it's going in my shop. The price was okay and still leaves me some room to make a profit."
That was an enlightened statement. And the other bidders were smart, too. The fact that the COLUMBIA stayed under the retail value mark at an auction, and was bought for resale, suggests that the pricing of vintage coin machines is fairly well understood. Price guides help, and word of mouth (and columns like this) add to the knowledge of what a slot machine or other coin-ops are worth. People sometimes write to me, some in anger, and say, "I can't buy machines at the prices you say." My answer usually is, "You can if you get out there and beat the bushes." Antiques is not an easy business. There are no wholesalers or distributors knocking at your door trying to sell you items that can turn a good profit. In antiques, and only in antiques to my knowledge, except maybe art and jewellery, does the seller not only have to go out and find the things to sell, but also take a lot of risk in the process of selling. It's double labor to get paid for the finding, cleaning, risk taking and marketing of the products to be sold. The stuff is out there if you are willing to give the time and labor required to be a success at an incredibly competitive field. But when when the competition is a facedown, as is so often seen at auctions, realistic prices often prevail. It's good to be reminded of that.
As for Katey and Nancy and their Memory Lane Antiques mall, they say that the annual auctions have always drawn a crowd, and now that they are planning for their 3rd Annual in 1996 they expect it to be another crowd pleaser as customers get accustomed to the event. They also suggested that I tell readers they are both single.

Q. - I purchased this arcade CANDID CAMERA machine at an auction. Lights in the cabinet briefly reflect the person's distorted face. It is definitely not a production machine, possibly built by a very talented and experienced arcade craftsman. What is your opinion regarding age, uniqueness, history and approximate value. L.S., Stevensville, MI
A. - Your CANDID CAMERA arcade machine is indeed a production model. It was made by the Exhibit Supply Company of Chicago, the largest maker of arcade machines in the 30s, and was introduced in 1940. It is a very clever illusion, and was patterned after a machine called ILLUSION made by the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago around 1907. The name CANDID CAMERA came from a major fad of the era, that of taking "surprise" pictures of people. The introduction of the Leica camera during the Great Depression, and the exponential growth of 35mm photography (using 35mm movie film), gave the 35s the nickname candid camera, which Exhibit picked up for their arcade illusion machine. In antique shops and malls these are usually priced around $125 or so at retail, half at wholesale if you are selling to a dealer.

Q. - My DEALER'S CHOICE poker machine takes dimes. All five reels spin a poker hand, which you can hold and draw. When was it made? It's also for sale. P. W., Cincinnati, OH.
A. - How time changes things, and yet doesn't. When mechanical trade stimulators first started out in the 1890s, the most popular format was a five-reel spinning hold-and-draw poker machine with prizes awarded based on the poker hand. Here we are almost a century later, and the same thing is being done, only now it is managed electronically. Your DEALERS CHOICE machine was made by Dealers Choice Inc. of Collingswood, NJ in 1966. These games did not catch on, so the machine is rare. That doesn't necessarily mean valuable. It has collectible value, but I can't even guess how much. Someday in the future, when the early electronic machines are prime collectibles (say in the 2020's) it will probably be a treasure, although some reader might want it right now. If you are interested in this poker machine, make an offer to 1-516/295-4502.

Q. - Maybe you can help me with my new LITTLE STOCKBROKER find. I purchased it at a Reno, Nevada, swap meet for $100. I originally thought it was a trade stimulator, but it lists payoffs in Pence. English, I guess. Interested in age, origin and approximate value. M.M., Sacramento, CA.
A. - You are absolutely correct on two counts. It isn't a trade stimulator, but rather a fully automatic single-reel payout slot machine. And it isn't American; it's British. It was first produced in Birmingham, England, in 1927, by the Granville Bradshaw Company in a large, all cast-iron cabinet. In this original condition it is sought after by British collectors, although it seems to have little value to American collectors. As produced it is valued at about $400 retail, or half that, about $200, wholesale. Then, in the late 1930s and during the World War II years, a British outfit called Cricketers scrapped the original iron cases and put the mechanism into the square wooden box you have. This revamp, or changed version, had award cards to the left and right of the reel. This machine has little value in this country, perhaps $200 at retail, and about half that at wholesale. So picking it up for $100 at a Reno Flea Market was right about on the money. Sadly, your award cards are missing.
As for parts and maintenance, I'm afraid that only the English know where to find them. The only papers that have ever been found for the machine are the British patents papers. The best bet is to find another machine and use the parts from the two to keep one running. The machine is a lot of fun if you can get it going as it's one of the better Brit slots.

(c) Richard M. Bueschel, 1995