Re: Roll-A-Top, Among Collectors, Is There A Preference Betw

[peefox]

Among Collectors, .... Is There A Preference Between a 5-cent Machine vs A 10-cent Machine or even a Quarter Machine ?

I Just Don't Know If One Would Be More Desirable Over Another To Have or If It Really Makes Any Difference.....

Thank-You For Any Opinion.....

[Bill zap]

I ve always heard that dimes are less desirable and I know why too..... In my brief collecting period less than a year for slots......have 7 machines one penny 4 nickels and two dimes......the dime machines jam or sit in the machine until gravity pulls them down .....this happens a lot. The other machines function nicely. It seems that the dimes made today don't have the weight or thickness of the old silver ones. So that seems to cause them to jam more. Well that's my two cents on the subject.

[Midcoast Vintage]

dime machines function properly when the escalator, or gooseneck is clean, and not clogged up with pocket lint.
machines, like cars, DO need attentive maintenance occassionaly.
with the advent of "canned air", which we use to blow out our computers, this is a real easy thing to do now.
also, if you have smaller kids, a dime machine is great, as, no other size coin will fit in the entry, so, you don't have to spend time unjamming it because of the wrong coin being put in.

[flipper77]

Well said. Of all of my machines, my two favorites are my dime Rol-A-Top and dime Bonus HighTop. I cleaned up my dime Rol-A-Top coin chute and escalator when I bought it and it plays flawlessly. Can't underestimate the benefit of no other coin fitting in the dime machine. And collector value as well - dime much less common that nickel. Choice of denomination much less important than condition of machine and whether it is simply worn out or, even worse, "fiddled with" rather than all original.
Flip

[Bill zap]

As I said I am a new collector and only saying what I ve told over the years.....so are dollar and half dollar machines considered harder to find and more valuable? And what about penny slots how do they fit in to the scheme of things?

[Midcoast Vintage]

you will hear a lot of "chatter" about "oh, this denomination is good, but no-one ones that denomination".
99% of it is bs / old wives tales.
they are ALL slot machines.
that is what is important.
we have already discussed the dime machines.

penny machines are always desirable.

everyone will say "oh... quarter machines are the best because everyone has quarters!".
what??? they don't have nickels, dimes and pennies? what planet are they from?

they will give 2 bogus reasons for staying away from 50 cent machines.
1) oh.... that's foreign!. hmmmmmm seems like we had 50 cent pieces in america.... what are they talking about?
(yes... a lot of macines went to england and were comverted to english penny, but again... there were 50 cent machines.
just know what to look for / be aware.
2) (this one always killed me...) oh, you don't want a 50 cent machine... no one has half dollars!
wrong!!!!!! you can get all you want at the bank.
and, on this same note....why do they say "no one has half dollars,", but, silver dollar machines bring a premium, and are highly sought after....which is fine, but... there have not been full size silver dollars for years, and, you CAN'T get them at the bank.
yes... the dollar machines are few, and far in between, but so are the legit 50 cent machines.
if a machine is straight, who cares what denomination it is... and why?

yes, some machines are very hard, if not impossible to find in certain denominations, which naturally, causes them to bring a premium price.
some 50 cent and dollar machines are fantasy machines, made up to complete a set, but most likely never existed from the factory.
for example, there are a few 50 cent rol-a-tops out there, and i am pretty sure watling actually did produce a few... a v-e-r-y few.
there also a couple dollar rol-a-tops floating around... THEY ARE FANTASY MACHINES... THEY NEVER LEFT THE FACTORY IN THAT DENOMINATION.
(GEORGE... CAN YOU CONFIRM THAT FOR US? ).

there are a lot of fake quarter mills qt's that have shown up in the last few years. (there is a seperate thread on this elsewhere on this site.

the early uprights for the MOST part were nickle and quarter only, however, there were a VERY few silver dollar and half dollar ones made.
never in penny or dime.

iron case machines (liberty bell, operators bell, and machines like those to the best of my knowledge were ONLY made in nickel play)
has anyone out there EVER seen an iron case machine in anything but nickel play?

anyway... if you like a particular machine, are happy with the condition, and the price... buy it.
it's your money, it's your collection.
denomination is not that important as long as the machine is straight, or, can me made straight relatively easy.

[Bill zap]

Thank you for clearing that up. I value the knowledge that you have all brought to this forum. I ve learned so much. And have a lot more to learn. Once again thanks

[watlingboy]

Speaking generally and addressing the Rol-A-Top only since that was the question asked, of the 5 cent, 10 cent and 25 cent denomination, the 25 cent will always bring the most and the 10 cent the least. There was a nice 10 cent vender front on Ebay about 2 months ago and the guy couldn't get $3400 for it, which was a very fair price. Dime machines play fine if they are cleaned and haven't been messed with. There were about 23 new in the box Rol-A-Tops found in New Mexico about 18 or 20 years ago and all were sold at the VCA auction. High bidder got his choice of a complete set of nickel, dime or quarter. Some high bidders took the complete set but those that didn't, took only the quarter. With that being said I would rather have a really nice pristine 5 cent machine than a beat up quarter machine so there is more to consider than denomination.

50 cent machines were made starting with the Rol-A-Tor, some nice unrestored original examples have survived. There are more post war 50 cent machines than prewar and the prewar are more desireable because they have the tin litho reel strips and oak cabinets and the post war have paper strips and have plywood cases however a number of post war machines were put in repro oak cases to increase their value so you need to be careful. Most but not all plywood machines pay off on a single cherry. I have never seen a repro 50 cent RAT, too much trouble to make and Midcoast is absolutely correct, Watling never made a one dollar RAT for sale.

Penny and 50 cent bring the most in a Rol-A-Top in regards to denomination. Very few penny Rol-A-Tops were made because the difference between a penny RAT and a nickel RAT was only about $15 dollars but it would take 5 times longer to pay for the machine so operators usually bought a penny Wonder Bell, Blue seal version or a Treasury, both much cheaper that a RAT. Then when you put the Indian Head gumball vender on the penny RAT, that gets very rare and pricey. Manufacturers charged more for a slot depending on the denomination. The penny was the cheapest and the half dollar was the most. It didn't cost more to make, I guess they figured you were going to pay if off quicker so they could charge a little more. When large hoardes of machines were found in the 70's and bought from old operators, they put the highest on the half dollar machines because they had payed the most for them. Penny Rol-A-Tops were made and have survived in the Coin front, Cherry front and Bird of Paradise version.

Watlingboy

Watlingboy

[flipper77]

After all opine - - - - - - - - if you find a good dime Rol-A-Top all original - BUY IT! They are terrific!