Newbie...

[KSmith]

Hi Dave,

I just wanted to say that I think this is a great resource for those of us with an interest in antique slot machines. I've thought about a machine for my den, just because I sometimes have a desire to gamble "a little bit". I also think it would be a good way to stash some money away. What better place than your own "piggy bank".

Because I want to keep the kids from playing the machine, I've considered a 50c machine as the best option. The bank has a ready supply, unlike $1 IKE coins. From what I've seen on your site, most true antiques only existed in 1c, 5c, 10c and occasional 25c. Most of the 25c and 50c machines being repros. I viewed all of your slot images from your bitmap subdirectory and found exactly one 50c machine. Am I looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack? What can I expect to pay for a traditional mechanical from the 30's/40's?

On a different note, I found the COCA web site a bit "standoffish". $33/year to join, and you get 3 issues of ads and such per year? You can't see any of their site unless you are a member, but they do offer you the opportunity to "post" an ad, you just can't see it. I find it odd that they had to increase their dues to cover the development of their web site. I would imagine that you could find a volunteer within the organization that would do it for free. Wth 635 members, there must be one with some HTML experience. I maintain 5 web sites for various organizations and family members (all customized and fully interactive; i.e., not static) and I haven't ever charged a fee to develop them. I've probably spent hundreds of hours designing and testing the sites. Okay, I'm not exactly being truthfull on one web site I maintain. Its for a violin maker friend and we are trading violin making lessons for the development "fee". I do one for my sister for her horse racing handicapping, an alumni site for my high school graduating class, a violin making workshop site, our HOA site and a family web site that I haven't updated in 4 or 5 years. Incidently, our violin making organization produces a MONTHLY newsletter with articles and photos of the previous month's meeting in a slick format that usually contains 12 pages (no advertising) and our yearly dues are $25 (international members pay an extra $5 for postage). Our membership hovers around 200 members. I couldn't imagine what we would do with a yearly budget of approximately $21,000 (635 * $33).

Thanks for all of the great information. I had thought a 50c Mills Golden Nugget would look great in my den, and thanks to you, I won't have a repro. The search continues... At this point though, I don't have the "have to have it" bug, but I am curious about the true cost and likelihood of finding that antique 50c machine.

I appreciated the ACMCA information on the site too. Being in the San Diego area, I remember going to a coin-op show maybe 8 or 9 years ago. I haven't seen any since then. I see that there is a show in Arcadia in October. Perhaps a forum section on upcoming shows/events would be a great resource for us "newbies". Just a thought.

Thanks again.

Kevin

[Marc Hess]

Most banks can get you as many Ike dollars as you are willing to pay for in a matter of days. All they have to do is place an order w/ their federal reserve branch. At one point my bank told me they could get me 1000 Ikes in 4 days if I wanted them.

Marc
www.thecoinopcollector.com

[watlingboy]

Kevin,

While 25 cent and 50 cent machines are harder to find, they are not rare. If you are looking for an original 50 cent out of the late 20's or 30's, these can be difficult to find. Original quarters from this period are easier to find. Your best bet would be a post WWII Mills Black Cherry or Mills Golden Falls. I have owned a few of these over the years and they are not hard to find. The one thing with 50 cent machines is they may be English conversions but you can find nice untouched American 50 cent machines without much problem. I'm sure a few will be at the Chicagoland show this fall.

Watlingboy

[KSmith]

Watlingboy,

The image I saw of Dave's 50c was probably a Golden Falls. Unfortunately, ORD is not in the cards for me in the fall. If I'm in town, I think I'll try and make it to the Arcadia event in October. True, its small, but its close enough that I can justify the morning to my wife.

Marc,

I wasn't aware that you could still get IKEs. I thought they would have melted them down once they started going to the Sacagaweas, and gasp, SBAs.

Kevin

PS. Any idea on the price range of an original US 50c Mills Black Cherry or Golden Falls post WWII?

[Dave]

Yes, the machine that I have pictured is a 50 cent Golden Falls.

I bought it from a private party up in Helena MT about 15 years ago.

It is one of the nicest all original machines in my collection. When I got it it had a bunch of liberty halves in the coin tube. I still have those in the machine.

Regarding value, there have been 4 50 cent Golden Falls on E-bay during the previous 3 years. The prices have ranged from about $1,500 - $2,400.

To me, these prices seem low.

Dave

[watlingboy]

Kevin,

I sold a very nice 50 cent Mills Black Cherry at the Arcadia show 2 years ago for $1750.

Watlingboy

[KSmith]

Dave,

Thats some find. I hope someday I'll be lucky to find a machine like that. You can still find silver 50c pieces at your local bank, since they don't circulate very often. Having a machine will give me an excuse to go in every once in a while and clean out the bank's stock.

Sounds like the Arcadia show has possibilities. I'm looking forward to it.

[KaChing]

On a different note, I found the COCA web site a bit "standoffish". $33/year to join, and you get 3 issues of ads and such per year? You can't see any of their site unless you are a member, but they do offer you the opportunity to "post" an ad, you just can't see it. I find it odd that they had to increase their dues to cover the development of their web site. I would imagine that you could find a volunteer within the organization that would do it for free. Wth 635 members, there must be one with some HTML experience. I maintain 5 web sites for various organizations and family members (all customized and fully interactive; i.e., not static) and I haven't ever charged a fee to develop them. I've probably spent hundreds of hours designing and testing the sites. Okay, I'm not exactly being truthfull on one web site I maintain. Its for a violin maker friend and we are trading violin making lessons for the development "fee". I do one for my sister for her horse racing handicapping, an alumni site for my high school graduating class, a violin making workshop site, our HOA site and a family web site that I haven't updated in 4 or 5 years. Incidently, our violin making organization produces a MONTHLY newsletter with articles and photos of the previous month's meeting in a slick format that usually contains 12 pages (no advertising) and our yearly dues are $25 (international members pay an extra $5 for postage). Our membership hovers around 200 members. I couldn't imagine what we would do with a yearly budget of approximately $21,000 (635 * $33).

A "bit standoffish"?? That is putting it mildly.

Their web page and classified ads are a total waste of time. Forcing me to login to check the ads is a PIA. Why don't they provide the ability to notify me via email when a new ad is posted? I am not going to take the time to login every day just to see what, if anything, was listed. I wonder if certain people within COCA get notified when ads are listed (giving them an unfair advantage to get the stuff).

In the August of 2005 AND the August of 2006 issues we were promised a discussion forum. Still no forum. These guys should be in politics. COCA has no desire to allow the peasants to communicate to each other.

Unless you are in the ‘circle of COCA’ they have no desire to hear from you. Just give them your yearly dues and be happy.

If you had a budget of $21,000 you could hold a big party, call it a convention, and have only a small subset of your members attend.

KC