Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #085 - 1982 - March [International Arcade Museum]
column mint front vendor, single jackpot and inoperative skill
stop buttons. The serial number is worn and can be 1 -3 (or 8) 947.
Please suggest the Guides for the Mills and LITTLE DUKE
machines.
Very truly yours,
Harvey E. Rothenberg
appeared to pay out more than it should These machines were
custom made by the Pace Manufacturing Company in Chicago.
When Pace went out of business Harold's Club was stuck
without a source of supply.
But not quite. A group ofslot machine operators bought out
the Pace tooling and set up shop in Henderson, Nevada as the
Ace Manufacturing Company. They even made the old Pace
Dear Harvey,
Nice to have a loyal Coin Slot Guide user. We don't often
hear much about this series ofbooklets, but inch by inch, one-
at-a-time, these invaluable guides are snapped up whenever we
qffer them at shows, and the mail orders are a steadyflow. At
$6.95 each plus postage they don't cost much, but they give a
machine owner (or a wishful thinker who'd like to own the
machine) a rare and complete insight into their mechanism, its
history, and its model variations.
Just for the heck of it we checked out your 251 Jennings
CHIEF serial in the listings in "An Illustrated Price Guide to
the 100 Most Collectible Slot Machines, Volume 3" thatjust
came out, and lo and behold there was your machine. But what
a machine! It seems you have the 2 BITS PROSPERITY
CHIEF, a 251 play Gold Award model, and that's a bit ofa
rarity.
Asfor the next guides you need, we're still a little hazy on the
description of your Mills F.O.K serial 18,947 (or 13,947).
That's hardly circa 1936, so the number seems wrong. The
single jackpot and skill buttons suggests something around
1931 or so, and in that case you'd need Guide No. 134 which is
way down the line in scheduling and probably won't even be
publishedfor a few years. Guide No. 15 covers the circa 1930s
Mills MYSTERY machines and the MYSTERY FRONT
VENDER "Cross Diamond" if that's the model, and Guide
Na 17 covers the F.O.K. models in the 1926-1931 period I
guess we could use a photo ofthe machine to reallypin it down.
The Jennings LITTLE DUKE guide is easier to identify, but
here again it isn't in print yet It's Guide No. 55for the LITTLE
DUKE and the DUCHESS, and it'll be available later in
1982. Writer Dick Bueschel has assembled all the material —
in spite ofthefact that no LITTLE DUKE manuals have ever
been found, and may never have existed— and has the guide
fairly well blocked out It'll come along on schedule. Sorry
you'll have to wait, but hang in there as help is on the way.
Sincerely,
The Editor
Dear Editor,
The picture is enclosed. The only numbers I can find are
rivited on plates. The 25* machine says Harold's Club 11149,
10* Harold's Club 11830,5* Harold's Club 11211. There is no
other name what-soever. Could I get a personal response on the
machines.
Thank you,
Judy McGee
.com
m
:
u
m Standing
So that's where theyfinally went!
three in a row are
use
m
d last fro stand
classic examples of the
of
the mechanical slot
-
e
e
d
machine There's
a a
story behind
it
rcad
nlo
a
.
w
o
w
Harold's
Reno
D Club / in /w
w virtuallypopularized the slot machine
:
in Nevada. They
http were very "liberal," which meant they payed
out a lot They used a trick to make this popular, and had an
Dear Judy,
extra "Orange" symbol drilled as a "Cherry" so the machine
March, 1982
© The International Arcade Museum
DELUXE better and invented the "Front Open" model That
way the machines wouldn't have to be turned around on their
base cabinet in order to drain the cash box. It was a little thing,
Continued on page 14
•WANTED*
Regina Music
Boxes
Especially Uprights
And Changers
We will also buy
incomplete Reginas
And Parts. (Send photos.)
We are a well known,
fully equipped,
music box
restoration shop,
and can also
make any gears
or parts you may need.
Call
(609) 858-6421
THE MEEKINS
MUSIC BOX CO.
Box 161,
Colllngswood, NJ 08108
THE COIN SLOT-13
http://www.arcade-museum.com/