Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #018 - 1976 - July [International Arcade Museum]
A player didn't have to be particularly bright to realize early that a
washer of similar size would play as well as a coin. To put a stop to
this, the factory simply installed a finger on the engage lever to detect a
hole in the center of the washer. If the finger passed through, the mechan
ism would not engage the cycle from the handle pull. However, brass and
soft iron, so easily machined, soon found other uses than their original
purpose.
It was the working men in the factories who were the habituees of
saloons where slots were operated. These were the players who thought of
using slugs that would pass the feel of finger poking for washers. The
manufacturers merely put in magnets to get the iron slug. The visible es
calator window also showed the operator any suspicious activities of a
player who might be using brass slugs.
About the only other way to control the use of brass slugs was to
make the coin entrance and escalator tolerance so close to that of coins
that the machine would not now accept just any crude round piece of
metal. However, if a player was willing to go to all the trouble of ma
chining his own coin, the manufacturer probably said he could play free.
Players found other ingenious ways to outright cheat the machines.
I have seen machines with little holes drilled through the right rear bot
tom of the wood cabinet. They were always by the slide levers. I asked an
elderly former operator the reason for these strangley placed holes. He
said men from the factories would drill by hand or use a spring driven
device to spin a finely honed bit through the quartered oak side. Then a
small rod with a blunt end would be pushed through to push the slide re
lease levers over each time the mechanism was cycled. The payout was
only three to one or five to one, but those odds were much better than
the ones provided by Mr. Mills and Mr. Jennings.
So, what did the manufacturers do? The former operator said that
was the reason for the little metal box over the slide release levers. He said
that a drill would strike the angle of the box, the spinning bit would slide
off and usually snap at the outer cabinet surface. This not only stopped
the immediate action, but the operator left the drill bit in the cabinet.
.com
m
:
u
e a tiny hole near the edge in
Have you ever come across
us with
from a - coin
m
d collector/friend
e
your older machines? d A
has a matchbox full of them. It
e
loa or .a necklace
rcad because there was only one hole. The
n
couldn't be a w
bracelet
Do a fine
ww or silk thread throught he hole, knotted it, and
player passed
wire
w
/
/
:
let it drop until
http the slug detection finger felt it. He then pulled the handle
This left a tool steel plug for the next driller/player.
until he was discovered, the line broke with loss of coin and probable jam
ming of the machine, or he simply scooped up his swag and left for
greener pastures.
© The International Arcade Museum
http://www.arcade-museum.com/