Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #064 - 1980 - June [International Arcade Museum]
SERIAL
NUMBER
UPDATE
By Dick Bueschel
Jennings STANDARD CHIEF, from George
Dafnis, in Chicago, serial number 169213.
Did we ever think we'd make it to the summer? What a
year, for weather, for economics and for slots. The
weather we can't do anything about. The economy; well, it
affects us all as collectors, buyers and sellers. And the
slots? That's something we can do something about. We
can teach each other what to know about them.
I had an interesting conversation with a collector/dealer
from a southwestern state. He said, "Dick, stop printing
the serial numbers. It tells the law when something was
made". True, it does. But it also tells us what machines
exist, when they were made, what they are, and ... it
provides protection. There have been quite a number of
cases where Watling TREASURY machines were offered
at a high ticket when, in fact, they were BLUE FRONT
machines. The serial numbers saved the buyers from a big
mistake. There have been other cases where the serials
either prevented theft, or helped in the recovery of stolen
machines. Also, insurance companies want the serials. So,
everything is a trade off. The serials help more than they
hinder, and while they certainly can thwart a collector in
an "illegal" area, by state law or machine date, the
protection and knowledge the serials offer can only be
regarded as of greater value to the collectors at large.
.com
m
:
u
Some nifty serials this o month.
Of s particular
interest is
u e
fr m only
m
d CLUB,
that Mills COUNTRY
it isn't a Mills. It started
-
e
e
d
a ROYALE,
ad serial 528,381 around 1948
life as a Mills lo
n CLUB
a the rc demand
.
w
or so. But
then, when
for golf ball venders was
o
w
D
w
w
/
/
:
http
© The 22
International
Arcade SLOT
Museum
- THE COIN
greater than the available supply of machines made before
World War II, it was modified by the Club Equipment
Company in Chicago into the COUNTRY CLUB. The
machine was found as a COUNTRY CLUB, with the Mills
Industries name and original serial inside. Just to let you
know, the COUNTRY CLUB is a far rarer machine than the
CLUB ROYALE.
Then there's the Mills BLUE BELL serial 565-453 — for
the cabinet only — and the BLUE BELL serial 586,003 —
mechanism only — which shows up as one machine.
Somewhere
in
the past the operator switched
mechanisms, and the two parts came together to make a
single machine with two different serials. There's a lot of
that, so don't be surprised if you have two serials on the
same machine.
One
other
interesting
machine,
the Jennings
OPERATOR BELL serial 47,087. It has a Pace STAR
double jackpot front to make it look quite modern.
Serials this month came from Bob Christensen of
Bandon, OR: James D. Vasey of Elkton, OR; Lou Meisel of
Louis K. Meisel Gallery in New York — Lou gave us all the
serials of the machins in the PB 84 auction in New York in
March — Foster O. Huffman; Joseph S. Jancuska of
Luzerene, PA; and George Dafnis of Chicago. George sent
us the only picture this month. It's his beautiful Jennings
STANDARD CHIEF, serial 169,213.
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
JUNE, 1980