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 Since the prices are out of date and many of the dealers/collectors may no longer be collecting the machine we have purposely left this information out of the web version.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).


ARCADE 1

by Ken and Jackie Durham*

Back in 1979, shortly after Dick Bueschel published his first book, collectors asked Dick to write a book on arcade machines. Now, after fourteen years of research, Dick in collaboration with Steve Gronowski, has completed ARCADE 1, An Illustrated History of Arcade Machines. Dick collected so much information in this fourteen year effort that he plans to publish five volumes.

ARCADE 1 is similar to Dick's other illustrated history guides in that it dedicates a single page to each machine for 100 different arcade machines. This is probably the most popular feature of Dick's books. It includes some of the very rare early turn-of-the-century machines, the collectible machines from the 1920's & 1930's, the more readily available machines from the 1950's and 1960's, and even several video machines from the 1970's and 1980's. The whole range of arcade machines are included: fortune machines, strength machines, working models, peep shows, diggers, skill testers, electric shockers, etc..

And best of all, there is a price guide providing prices for each machine in a variety of conditions.

Many collectors would gladly buy the book just for the 100 machine section. ARCADE 1, however, includes 200 additional pages detailing the history of the arcade machine from the 1880's to 1905.
There are extended sections on:
- strength testers, lung testers, and electric shockers;

- peep shows, stereoscopes and mutoscopes;

- the Roovers and Rosenfeld companies;

- the Mills Novelty and Caille Bros. companies, and;

- the layout and contents of a 1905 penny arcade parlour.

There is even a listing by manufacturer (American and European) of approximately 1000 machines manufactured from 1870 to 1905. These 200 pages reveal fact after fact and story after story that previously were unknown to collectors. There are hundreds of additional photos and illustrations making it invaluable to the
historian and collector alike.

What about ARCADE 2,3,4, & 5. It will probably be a couple of years before we see ARCADE 2 . . . . and who knows if we'll ever see ARCADE 5, but here is what each of the books will contain.

- ARCADE 2 will cover the rise and fall of penny arcades from 1906 to 1930.

- ARCADE 3 will cover the second golden age of the penny arcade from 1931 to 1945.

- ARCADE 4 will cover the decline of the arcade from 1946 to 1970.

- ARCADE 5 will cover the video game explosion.

Each of these volumes will also contain a page on another 100 collectible arcade machines for a total of 500 machines.

ARCADE 1 is the longest and most comprehensive of Dick Bueschel's previous seven illustrated history books. At $39.95. it costs a little more than most coin machine books, but it is well worth the price. Since it took Dick 12 years to write, that's only $3 a year. You can order from Durham's Antiques 909 26 Street Wash DC 20037 or call 202-338-1342. Please add $4.25 for shipping.

*Ken and Jackie Durham are long time coin machine collectors and book dealers, who publish the Slot Machine/Jukebox Gazette newspaper and run the GameRoomAntiques World Wide Web site. Collectors are invited to send a stamped envelope for a free list of the latest coin machine books.

Copyright: 1996 Ken Durham
GameRoomAntiques 909 26 St NW Wash DC 20037
E-mail: durham@GameRoomAntiques.com
WWW: http://www.GameRoomAntiques.com