Coin Slot Magazine - #012 - 1975 - October [International Arcade Museum]
The selection of the old upright wooden cabinet gambling machines was es
pecially nice. They brought both expected and unexpected prices. The more
common machines brought prices that were expected and the more unusual
and better condition pieces set price records.
The first upright for sale was a 25? Caille Centaur in unrestored, working
condition that had originally sold at Harrah!s for $2, 800. It was quickly
auctioned off for $2, 700.
An unrestored 25? Mills Dewey in a musical cab
inet (with a very roughmusic box and missing the musical front) sold for
$1, 550. Most people estimated restoration costs of at least $1, 000 for this
piece.
A very rare, but rough Watling Owl Musical sold for $1, 800. Like the
Dewey, it will require extensive restoration. A 25? Dewey next sold for
$3,000. Although in restored condition, this machine did not have much of
the wooden detail work around the dial and at the bottom. An unrestored 5?
Dewey in very good condition followed at $2,100. All of the upright pieces
up to this point had been fairly
expected.
This was soon to change.
The next upright brought up for bid was a very ornate 5? Caille Musical
Puck. The macine itself was in super unrestored condition and the music
box needed a good deal of work. The bidding started routinely enough and
reached $3, 000 routinely enough.
But, the bidding didnMt stop there.
When
Auctioneer, Don Britt finally announced "sold, " the Caille Musical Puck had
sold for a WHOPPING $5, 000.
But, better things were still in store.
After a few other lots had been sold, up for auction came the unique Victor
Triple. Victor uprights had been manufactured between 1904 and 1906 in
Chicago by the Victor Novelty Company. The President of Victor was Tho
mas V. Skelly who, in the mid-20's, developed the 3-reel slot rotary esca
lator which Pace subsequently bought for its use.
Victors were designed as unabashed imitations of Mills Deweys. What Mills
made, Victor copied. As a result, the Victor Triple looked startlingly like
a Mills machine.
The machine was a 5?-25?-50?: 5? Victor Jackpot, 25? Victor National, and
50? Victor 4-Bits. It was in excellent unrestored condition with the mirror
ed glass being especially nice.
The bidding on the Triple quickly moved up to $9, 000, where it slowed down
as two bidders bid the price up in $250 increments. The machine was fin
ally sold for $11, 000, a record for an upright machine.
The sixth-to-last item up for bid was one of the rarest ones: a very beautiful
com
.
m
:
u
om certainly
ce in light of its rarity.
Last, fr but
use not least, was the long-awaited
m
d
-
e
Caille 25? Peerless Roulette.
was in excellent unrestored
e
d machine
ad rc The
a Like
lo perfectly.
condition and worked
several of the other uprights at the
n
a
.
w
auction, the Roulette
had
a beautiful Arrington mirrored art glass as well
Do //w
ww
as a "Play Quarters"
sign. To many of the assembled collectors, this was
:
p
the most beautiful
htt of the old uprights and, if not as rare as a Black Cat or
5? Caille Musical Black Cat. The machine although working, was unrestor
ed and the music box needed work. It sold for $5, 500, a not surprising pri
Victor Triple, certainly a most desirable piece, the bidding started at
$5, 000 and moved steadily upward. At the end, the Caille Roulette, at a
record price of $11, 250, stood alone as the "King" of uprights.
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