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Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 7:51 am
by edgeCity
. . . and "1.8 k" (cash) was indeed the magic number, J! Drove up to Marine City, MI yesterday and brought this half dollar baby home.
I'll post more fotos and info after I've had a some time to go through it.
Nelson

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:29 am
by OneArmBandito
Hey that's great ! Did he let you keep the $90 in halfs since you talked him down ?
When I bought mine the guy emptied all the quarters out.

Best,

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 9:45 am
by edgeCity
. . . no, I paid him $90 extra for the coins. There may be more or less in the machine (coin chute and jackpot are full),
we'll see!

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 11:18 am
by briank
Good deal, thats gonna be a fun one to play.

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Sun Mar 05, 2017 8:21 pm
by JHSS-1944
Nelson ; sounds good. interesting to know if there is any color paint inside of the castings.
you'll like the sound of these coins falling out on wins.
share photos later. have some fun with it !
jeff H.

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Mon Mar 06, 2017 4:18 pm
by edgeCity
. . . so last night I began tearing into my newly acquired halfer. It plays smoothly and pays correctly but boy does it need a good cleaning and some fresh grease! It did come with a matching numbers Mills lock and key! The bonnet and back door appear to have a bronze color, as well as the reel and escalator windows (Jeff-there is a minimal amount of overspray on the inside of the casting around the windows ). The coinbox is complete although a bit worse for the wear. There is one sticker on the base of the mech but, sadly, it is so covered with grease it is unreadable.
I'm still not sure what I have here. Perhaps it began life as a Chrome Bell (Diamond front), but these machines (and their successors) paid on a single cherry. This slot pays only on double cherries. So I'm thinking this one has an older mech , and the award bib was cribbed from another machine as well to match the payouts. Curiously, the bib has a lock cylinder drilled into it, but it appears to serve no useful function. There's a foto of the award bib above.
Without any definitive clue as to what this baby was, I'm not sure what I would restore it to. But she's a keeper, so perhaps I'll stamp a bit of my own personality!
A few fotos:
IMG_7187.JPG
"bronze" bonnet
IMG_7181 (2).JPG
Mills key and lock (No. B5730)
IMG_7182.JPG
'older' mechanism?

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 1:34 am
by JHSS-1944
looks good so far. my nice 50 is a black cherry ,almost mint , but in the late color paint, like the jewel bell .
check the areas where the diamonds are fitted. compare them to another (see if any difference).
most fish mouth seem to be Black Cherries , Golden Falls , & ???
clean her up ,might find some more answers.....
what the serial number on the wood ??
jeff H.

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 5:41 pm
by edgeCity
. . . couldn't find a serial number on the wood. The base has been painted black. There are some part numbers on the larger casting pieces, of course.

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:38 am
by JHSS-1944
o.k. figured I'd ask . might help date at least the cabinet.

Re: Mills diamond 50 c. on Ebay

PostPosted: Mon Mar 27, 2017 1:20 am
by JHSS-1944
Nelson ... this might help explain your machine..... And explain the Chromed black cherry I saw awhile back.
this ad was in Billboard magazine June 22, 1946 !
note the artwork shows the typical half top design not the fish mouth.