Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #092 - 1982 - October [International Arcade Museum]
fountains, and barbers. They were
good for something in trade: 5$,
10C, 121/2$, 150, 250, or a drink,
shave, etc. Most of these tokens
are large, the size of a quarter to
half dollar, and ornate, with fancy
lettering and ornamentation. Their
distinct 19th century appearance
makes these tokens very popular
pany store. From the late 19th cen
Some new token manufacturers
of the time were turning out tokens
that were crude, but charmingly so.
Other token manufacturers or dis
tributors, such as the Brunswick
Balke Collendar Co., a billiard table
manufacturer, sold quality tokens
ber companies.
for use in making change for sales
SECURITY
tax amounts that were a fraction of
TELEPHONE TOKENS
a cent. The tax tokens were made in
These tokens of the 1930s and
very large numbers, and made out
of metal, plastic, and cardboard, in
lem. This was solved by adding an
Continued
obstacle at the coin slot, so that
only a special telephone token with
the corresponding groove, slot, or
shape, could fit in that particular
phone. The tokens were sold by the
proprietor of the store where the
phone was located. The series of
Goetz telephone tokens is charac
terized by differently shaped slots,
grooves and holes cut into the to
kens, and different code numbers
stamped on them. The tokens were
used primarily in the Chicago area
PINBALL MACHINE
TOKENS
The payout pinball machines of
the mid 1930s to mid 1940s gen
erated a large number of tokens.
There are two main groups of them
— those issued by the machine
manufacturers (bearing their initial
or name) and pinball tokens privately
made by merchants for use in their
machines. The latter group is re
prietor.
SLOT MACHINE TOKENS
(Circa 1898-1950)
The smaller size of slot machine
tokens left less room for ornamenta
tion and wording, so they aren't as
attractive or informative as the earli
er, larger tokens. Most early slot
machine tokens were solid; many
later ones have a hole in the cen
ter. Many slot tokens mentioned
the machines or manufacturers or
their amusement nature; others
have the merchant's name and value
We want to thank the many
people who responded to the ad
in the July issue of
The Coin Slot
Unfortunately, there were more
requests than machines.
The Wings were a terrific buy
at $200.00 each.
Our next great offer
will appear in
The Coin Slot
Watch for our future ads.
Penny Lane Antiques
c/o Jan or Ed Stevens
4820 N. Troy
Chicago, IL 60625
Large Evans Color Wheel
(Similar to a Big 6 Wheel.) 52 inch diameter. Restored
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Original Condition
$ 1,275
to mint condition
5C War Eagle NICE
10C Horsehead Bonus
$2,700
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Restored
o 5$ m Watling Fancy Front
c
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eum Twin Jackpot
m: us
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ed
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n
ow TOKENS
COAL D
MINE
www practice for
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It was the
general
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coal mines to pay their employees
October 1982
1940s were issued by many states
slugging of pay phones was a prob
widespread appearance and popu
larity of the newly invented slot ma
chines. From that point on, tokens
the size of a nickel became very
popular. They served the same pur
pose as before, but now they could
be easily gambled away in the slot
machines, to the delight of the pro
© The International Arcade Museum
SALES TAX TOKENS
known. A similar, but smaller, series
of tokens are those issued by lum
In the early 20th century, the
with their name or advertisement
comprising the entire back of each
token. The Brunswick tokens are
popular because they picture a bil
liard table.
This series of tokens began to
fade out in the late 1890s, with the
in tokens. This way they didn't need
much cash on hand, and the miners
would spend the tokens at the com
different coal company tokens are
thousands of coal mining compa-
nies(mainly in West Virginia, Virginia,
with collectors
only.
Slot machine tokens comprise a
major series of 20th centu ry tokens,
with hundreds of thousands of dif
ferent machine tokens issued. Gold
Award, console, and trade stimula
tor tokens, different in appearance
and size from the nickel slot machine
tokens, were added to the scene in
the 1930s through 1950s. Only in
the last 20 years have these tokens
been collected and studied.
and Tennessee) issued sets of to
kens (10 through $1 or $5) for use
at the mines. About ten thousand
stricted to Minnesota and Wisconsin,
where thousands of merchants is
sued pinball machine tokena Most
of the tokens are nickel size or a
little smaller, or a little larger, (usual
ly worth 5 free plays), or much larger
(gold award type tokens).
tury through the mid-20th century,
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$1,495
$ 1,200
We always carry a large selection of antique penny arcade
machines and diggers. Please call for more information.
Color photos — $2.00
STEVE GRONOWSKI
8008 Memory Lane, Chicago IL 60656
312-775-4023
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
THE COIN SLOT-11