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 Since the prices are out of date and many of the dealers/collectors may no longer be collecting the machine we have purposely left this information out of the web version.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

Rules Of Value
By Dick Bueschel

Then there are the exceptions to the rules. We've been discussing what a coin machine may be worth, and have expressed the wholesale half-price rule if a machine is to be "turned," or re-sold as-is by a dealer, and the quarter-price rule if the machine requires restoration before selling. Once again, here's how these rules work. If you have a slot machine that has a retail value of $1,000 in a price guide, and you want to sell it, you can expect to get about half of its listed value if you sell to a dealer because the dealer has to make a profit on the re-sale. The advantage to you is that you'll get your money right away, and probably in cash. If you wanted to bypass that step and go for the higher collector retail dollar value you'll need to do the same thing the dealer does; advertise it, get the machine running, clean it up, guarantee that it will work and be willing to give the buyers their money back within a reasonable length of time if it doesn't. The point is, the dealers earn their money. They have to find the machine, take a risk by buying it for whatever they can get it for, and then schlepp it back to their shop or store and wait for the retail buyer, probably spending money in the process to clean up and advertise their find. Believe me, they aren't making a killing when they buy at half-off the price guide.
Then there's that wholesale one-quarter rule if the machine needs restoration. Between the pickup and eventual sale the dealer has to move the machine around a lot (gas becomes part of the value), fix up the machine, replace missing parts (and the search for the parts that are needed almost always takes longer than finding the machine), repaint, restore and indemnify. The fact that they do all this is why they are in their business and you aren't. No matter what they pay for a machine, it still isn't easy for them to make a buck. So if you have an $1,800 soda machine based on a price guide, and it's trashed, if you get anywhere from $200 to $450 at wholesale you're doing great. By the time the dealer has it in shape to sell two or three times that cost has been added to the machine. In the main, therefore, trading in vintage coin machines at the wholesale level is generally a buyers market.
But as I said, there are exceptions. And they can be summed up in one word: desirability. The greater the desirability of a vintage coin machine, the easier it is to resell, and the more a dealer can pay for it (or a collector, for that matter) due to the reduced risk. And the differences on value and spread can be astounding. A new rule enters the picture: if you want to make money trading in antique coin machines, find rarities. When rareness, uniqueness and desirability enter the equation the price guides take on new meaning by providing the added dimension of telling you what machines are more desirable than others. No price guide gives all of its attention to mundane collectibles, and the better guides quite often have front running machines somewhere in their pages. Just look for them. They'll pop right out at you as you scan the value columns. And when you spot them, you'll be amazed at the jumps in value. And at that point the one-half and the one-quarter wholesale rules go right out the window, to be replaced by what the traffic will bear or demands. For example, if a machine has a retail market value of $15,000, a dealer can afford pick it up for $10,000 or $12,000 (which is 66% to 80% of resale) because they can make a handsome profit even after they include their value added services. As a general rule, once a machine is highly desirable, the wholesale value is about 75% of the retail or collector value, turning the percentages of buying and selling completely in reverse. And when rarities come to the collector market, the ultimate buyer is usually the one that pays for any restoration so the dealer isn't stuck with a lot of added cost and work. In short, when you have something that others desperately want, it's suddenly a sellers market.
Don't despair and think that you won't be the person to find the next bellringer. If you keep looking it happens all the time. Just get out there and hunt. You look, you find. You don't, you won't. It's that simple. My price guide books are full of stories about people that made a score (and the same people often do it time after time) and got paid well for their finds. Or, if they are collectors, continue to bask in the glory of having brought a treasure of the past into the display of the present. Every machine in my personal collection was acquired that way, and I hope there will be more.
So how can you tell a good machine from a bad? The fast answer is that there are no bad machines, although some machines are worth a lot more than others. The thing to look for is generally a combination of things. If it's vending, look for old, generally wood with a colorful decorated front and an inside clockwork mechanism. If it's an automatic payout slot machine or trade stimulator, find out if it's cast iron, the cabinet construction of choice between the turn of the century and 1922 (to be replaced by aluminum). Most good finders carry small refrigerator magnets in their pockets so that they can check the cabinet of a machine on the sly and determine if it is iron or aluminum. The magnets stick to iron. They won't stick to aluminum or pot metal. And iron is the magic metal in payouts, the more elaborate the better. In pinballs and baseball games and bowlers it's the backglass. If the glass is worn or scratched or broken forget the game, as over half the value is in the "cosmetics." In juke boxes look for bubble tubes or decorated glass, which places them right in the middle of the Golden Age circa 1940-1955. In scales look for elaborate cast iron. If your finds or barn storage match these specs it doesn't mean they are barnburners, but their chances at being a better than average coin-op are greatly multiplied. Happy hunting.

Q. - I picked up this old looking slot machine in a mall in West Virginia for $600. And it works. I played a nickel and won, and five coins dropped into the payout cup. The iron coin head says Victor Novelty Works Chicago. It may be old but we're not sure. Can you tell me anything about age and value? M.G., Graham, SC.
A. - Congratulations. You just found the first and only known example of a counter color wheel payout slot made by Victor Novelty in Chicago. Victor Novelty was in business from 1904 through 1909, when they were reorganized as the Eagle Manufacturing Company. Eagle made an all metal version of the same machine they called the EAGLE, based on the artwork in the glass. And your undiscovered machine has the same glass. So I'd say you found a Victor Novelty EAGLE of around 1908, as well as a piece of history. As for value, because it is an undiscovered machine it can't be found in any price guide, but I'd hazard a guess of somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000 depending on the enthusiasm of any buyer. Maybe more.
Q. - What do you think of this peanut vending machine? I found it in an upstate New York antique shop, disguised as a lamp, including a shade. When I tracked down its patent number in the New York Public Library I identified it as made by the Griffin Vending Company, located in Harlem in 1912 and 1913. The case is all cast iron, copper plated. Any opinions? B. G., Great Neck,. N.Y.
A.- It takes my breath away! The people that have seen your pictures of the Griffin Vending GRIFFIN peanut vender are calling it the greatest vintage coin-op find of the nineties. It just might be. It's more than a vender. This is classical American sculpture encasing a coin-op mechanism. And to think that in the 80 years since its creation this is the first and so far only one to be discovered. As for value, it's up for grabs. I can't see anything less than a comfortable five digits, with a lot of 2s, 3s and 4s all mixed up.
Q. - I have a Seeburg Select-O-Matic jukebox that plays 45s, serial 11728, marked Model M-100BL. It's all there except two mirrored pieces along one side. The rounded top glass is not cracked or broken. I'd like some idea of what this machine would be worth as I want to sell it. R.T., Ulysses, PA.
A. - Jukeboxes are golden, meaning they have value. But they are also an item that cries out for restoration, so the wholesale one-quarter rule applies. Junkers with severely damaged or missing parts have little value as it takes a lot to bring them back into shape. But your machine appears to be in good restorable condition, with replaceable parts missing. It's going price guide rate is between $1,500 - $3,200 and more in as-found working to restored condition depending on the dealer. So I'd say your selling price should probably be in the $600 to $800 range.
Note to S.D. in Lansing, Michigan, who had the two vending machines in the March 29 column that I valued at $75 for the pair. I've gotten two offers to buy, and I'm sure that the takers will make reasonable offers. So if you still have them for sale let me know and I'll pass the inquiries on to you.
Copyright Richard M. Bueschel, 1993