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 Since the prices are out of date and many of the dealers/collectors may no longer be collecting the machine we have purposely left this information out of the web version.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

Soda Machines A Separate Collectible
By Dick Bueschel

I was going through the stack of mail that has been generated by this column (I get about 6 to 8 letters the week after each column appears, and then it drops off) over the past year, and came to the conclusion that soda machines and automatic payout slots are the most enduring and collected classifications. Slots aren't a surprise. But soda machines are. Five years ago this wasn't even a collectible classification, yet today they are highly desirable devices, both because they work but also because they surround us with names we know, like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and others. And the 50s craze doesn't hurt, either.
So I picked out some of the soda machine letters I have recently received, and decided to answer them. But I must admit I was also inspired by my Son-In-Law, Frank Conaty, husband of my daughter Megan. I'll explain. Frank is in the restaurant business, and is very successful at it. He is the manager of one of the newest and brightest lights in the Lettuce Entertain You amalgam. Frank is the manager of a restaurant called Maggianos Little Italy, in the upscale River North area in Chicago. The food is excellent, and so plentiful many people take home "doggie bags," already imprinted with the restaurant name. So Frank is both experienced and interested in service, restaurant and dispensing equipment and the aura of the 50s.
So where does this fit into soda machines? Let me tell you a story, about parenthood. And one that kills me. As a result of it, my wife Helen and I felt the need to reaffirm the difference between parents, Good parents, and Really Good parents to our daughter. One Thursday afternoon in late August this past summer, when we were on vacation in Western Michigan, we drove to Ludington and headed for a trashy old downtown building that has a sign out front that says "Estate Sale." In I go to see the proprietor, asking, "Whatchagot new since last time?"
Now I hit this place maybe 2 or 3 times a season, hoping for something new but not expecting it. But this time it was different. "I got a Coke machine," he says, and I ask, "Where is it?" and he says, "You're leaning on it." So I turn. Backing up, the value of a vintage coin-op machine is often in the perception of the person viewing it. What he saw was a "Coke machine," but what I saw was a 1958 Cavalier CS-72. I asked him, "Does it work and whatcha gotta have for it?," and he says, "Yup! Compressor is okay, but it needs coolant, and I want 65 dollars," and I saw a score. Naturally, I said what anyone reading this column would have said; "I'll think it over." So I headed upstairs, picked up 3 or 4 old books, a copy of Spaulding's 1926 rules for basketball and some ancient baseball team photos, and came back down and asked, "75 for everything?"
"Deal," he says, and I get giddy. So he helps us pack the machine into the back of the station wagon and off we go. Crowing. So I tell my wife, "This thing is worth $1,800 retail restored. Half that is the profit, so the dealer can put $900 into his machine. Half of that is restoration, so the dealer can pay up to $450 for this machine. We just made $400, and all I've got to do is make the phone call."
I made a call, but it was the wrong one. I called Megan and asked about the plans for her husband's upcoming birthday party. She was all eager; "It's on Sunday, Dad, and you and Mom should be here at 3:30, and how did you guys do in Michigan? Get anything?"
Foolishly, I said, "Yes, we just picked up a Coke machine."
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," she says, "Frank wants one sooooooo bad. He really wants one to restore. Oh, Dad, that's what Frank wants."
That's when I told her the difference between parents, Good parents and Really Good parents, checked my wife, and chokingly said, "Okay, It's his." Out goes our mongo bingo deal, and in comes family. It was the right thing to do. On his birthday we gave him a xerox of page 98 from the Jeff Walters book Classic Soda Machines showing the Cavalier CS-72, took him out to the car to unload the treasure, and for the next hour or so he gawked at his own soda machine. He even left dinner once to go back out to the garage to look inside the cabinet. That's what Really Good parents do, whether they want to or not. The pleasures shared with other members of the family are often the sweetest.
Do you have stories about coin machine collecting? We'd like to hear them. So send them in, and let's see what fits into this format. As for parental encouragement, I'm afraid that my wife and I are in for more lost deals as our daughter Stacey also has a husband that wants a coin machine, so I think that Jim McDonald is next due.
Gee, I wonder where these guys got the idea?

Q. - I am enclosing a picture of a Coke machine I have. Some people have told me there were not many of this model made. Any information and value would be appreciated. C.P., Pikeville, KY.
A. - Your machine is the Vendorlator 27 of 1948-1951, made in Fresno, California by Vendorlator before it was bought by Vendo. Contrary to your hearing that only a few of this model were made, it is one of the most popular and common Coke venders around. But that doesn't mean it is commonly valued, as it is also one of the more desirable Coca-Cola soda machines. It's value in good condition is around $500 if you were to buy it, or about half that if you are selling. With its original stand it is worth half again as much. Condition is also a factor as these machines are made of aluminum and are often dented. But yours appears to be in very good shape. Congratulations on a nice piece.
Q. - The first soda machine I picked up was in a junk pile slated for the dump 12 years ago. I now have a 1961 Cavalier Model 55D and a 1962 model C55E. Where can I pick up parts, and would you be able to give me their approximate value? W.A., Flourtown, PA.
A.- Your machines are clever, and in fact you are running ahead of the pack. While bottle venders are hot right now, can venders haven't really entered the collectibility stage yet, and as a result there is no pricing that can be followed. Like the cup venders, I believe can venders will be highly desirable some day. But for the moment they aren't. So, for a value, I can only guess at entry level, with your 1962 Cavalier C-55E in the $150-$300 range. Your C-55D, unfortunately, is missing key parts and has been repainted, so the value is negligible, or next to zero. But hang onto that 1961 C-55E as it is in great shape with all its colors and advertising intact. Its value can only climb. As for parts, try the dealers I mentioned in my April 27, 1992 column.
Q. - I have a Model GBV-50 Coke vender made by Glasco Corp., Muncie, Indiana. In a past column you gave the manufacturer's name as Glascock in Muncie. Was this a typo or what you believed to be the correct name? I would be interested in the value of this machine. P.M., Brookville, OH.
A. - Both names-Glasco and Glascock-are correct. The firm started in Muncie, Indiana, with a bottle vender in 1930 as the Glascock Brothers Manufacturing Company. In the early 1950s they became the Glasco Corporation, starting with their G-50 cooler. By 1964 they had become the Glasco Division of the Universal Match Corporation, still in Muncie. By 1966 they were gone.
Your machine is the Glasco GBV-50 (in the G-50 series), made by the Glasco Corporation in the middle 1950s into the 1960s. It is known as a "slider" as you slide out your bottle along a metal track. It is the most common slider made, and as such is a very desirable collectible. The preferred G-50 model is the coin-op version with a small coin acceptor on the left side, usually 10. It's value in average restorable condition is around $300 with the values going up to around a thousand dollars plus in prime or fully restored condition. The non-coin-op version, which yours is, is worth about half that. Yours does seem to be in very good shape.
Q.- I picked up an old machine and bottle rack at an auction several years ago. The machine is a Vendo H81A and it takes a dime to get your drink. The rack is red and holds 3 wooden trays and reads "Place empties here." What's their age and value? I think we paid $25 for both pieces. M.S., Paducah, KY.
A. - Congratulate yourself. That 25 bucks you spent at an auction some years back may be the best "Two Bits" you ever laid down for hardware. Your Vendo V-81 Series is one of the most desirable and collectible soda machines because of its ability to vend a variety of bottle sizes. And it doesn't weigh a ton at less than 300 pounds. It was made in the mid-1950s and went through a number of minor model variations. Yours is the second, or "A," version. Value is strong. In average working condition it'll sell in a shop for around $500, or half that if you're selling to a dealer. But in full restored glory it'll go for up to $2,000. But the looney thing is that your Coca-Cola bottle rack is a valuable piece in its own right. I'd value it at about $150 in a shop.
Copyright Richard M. Bueschel, 1992