THE TOKEN CORNER
by Ric Gandy
The Five Most Common Amusement Machine Tokens
In the past I've discussed some interesting,
unusual, and puzzling coin machine tokens. But the
chances are slim that the aveage reader would come
across such tokens. So I've decided to devote this
month's column to the five most common types of
amusement machine tokens. As there are tens of
thousands of different tokens that have been used in
slot and pinball machines, I've come up with this
list of the five most common based on my experi-
ence of having examined hundreds of thousands of
machine tokens.
These are the tokens you'll most likely encounter
in an old machine or in old token accumulations of
machine operators. They are discussed below, in
order, most common type first.
Most of these tokens were made of brass, but you
can find ones that are plated with nickel or zinc, or
made of white metal (nickel) or rarely lead.
However, the most valuable ones are the bimetallic
varieties, where each token is made of two different
metals, one forming a star or spoked area around the
central hole. The metals brass, copper, and nickel
occur in all possible inner-outer combinations.
As these tokens were made over a long period of
time by several different token manufacturers, there
are many different varieties: different styles and
spacing of the lettering, and different small orna-
mental devices (star, dot, or diamond).
1) Obverse: For amusement only
Reverse: This token has no cash or trade value
2) Obverse: Good for amusement only
Reverse: No case value
This is the most common type of slot machine
token. Such a token is referred to as a stock token,
because it is a general type which the token manu-
facturers made in large quantities to keep in stock
for immediate sale. Operators who bought these
tokens didn't want the added expense and delay of
ordering custom made tokens with their name or
special legends, or they preferred these anonymous
tokens.
The tokens have a round hole in the center, and
were used to operate many different slot machines.
The nickel-sized tokens are most common, but you
can easily find ones that are quarter size, dime size,
and cent sized. The dime and cent sized tokens lack
the word "This" on the reverse, probably because
there isn't as much room for the long reverse legend
on the smaller tokens.
Here we have another stock token, that comes in
two different types - with or without a hole in the
center. Those with the holes are similar to the tokens
above. They come in the same sizes, metals (but not
bimetalics), and ornaments (but there's a greater
variety, including bowties and ovals).
The solid type, without the hole, also comes in
penny, nickel, dime and quarters sizes, with the
nickel size most common. These occur in brass,
nickel-plated brass, nickel, zinc and lead. I believe
that most of these solid types are a little more
recent, as they usually are found in association with
pinball machine tokens. Thus their primary use may
have been in the payout pinball machines of the
1930's and early 1940's.
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