Looking for advice/feedback

[Babalou119]

I'm considering purchasing a 1932 Mills Roman Head slot machine. The machine has been in the same family for over 30 years. They said it was an original machine, but it had been repaired. I tested it out and it seems to run smoothly. What is a reasonable price range for this machine? Any concerns based on the two photos? Thanks everyone.

[oldtimeslots.com]

From the pictures the machine looks like a total reproduction made in the late seventies to mid nineties.

[63mini]

I agree with oldtimeslots.com. It is definitely a repo.

[Babalou119]

Thank you so much, I appreciate the feedback. What gave it away? Looking to purchase my first slot machine so this is a learning process for me. Thanks.

[marsonion]

From the pictures the machine looks like a total reproduction made in the late seventies to mid nineties.

I agree 100% with Oldtimeslots-- this is a "reproduction" top to bottom, except I think a genuine Roman Head would probably have a functioning escalator, and I'm guessing this one probably doesn't... do any 25c Mills have escalators with the quarters that close together and pressed up against the glass like that? (Asking for a friend.)

[Babalou119]

Thanks. I will mention that I played it twice now and the escalator functioned properly.

[marsonion]

What gave it away?

Always be circumspect when you see the 25c denomination paying out on a single cherry. Giveaways include the brassy/galvanized hardware and glitzy castings, the sharp-edged woodwork on a machine supposedly 80 years old, probable lack of check-detection rods and other functionality... and I'm sure there are many more fake-makers evident to more experienced eyes than mine.

[Babalou119]

Thank you.

[marsonion]

Thanks. I will mention that I played it twice now and the escalator functioned properly.

Somebody please help me (help my friend, I mean ): If this escalator "works"-- and I'm sure Babalou119 isn't lying-- is this an example of a "roll-away" modification of an escalator? Do these coins all stay in place as a mask or cover for a "roll-away" ramp behind them? Or are these coins actually being marched across the window mechanically, while somehow remaining in direct contact with one another? Are all repro escalators like this? If so, then this sort of view through the escalator window would be an immediate and obvious indicator of a repro, so you wouldn't have to open the thing up and look for hex nuts and philips' screws or anything like that...

[702collector]

I’d like to know that too. My parents have three mills compacts. Two are nickels and they show the last two coins. The other one is a 50 cent machine that has them all lined up touching each other. They do move across when you insert a coin and it does have the check pin. Curious if it is a repro or it was modified or were there different versions of escalators for different denominations.