1950`s Mills Jewell Bell 25 Cent Professsionally Restored

[Factotum]

Hi, I am just learning. Any comments on this unit. 160978017995
Thanks,
Gordon

[oldslotman]

Hi, I am just learning. Any comments on this unit. 160978017995
Thanks,
Gordon

It depends on the type of interest you have. I put collectors into three groups. First the die hard true collectors. They want their machines to be as original as possible. Second the is what I call the New Old Look collector. They will redo the outside of the machine to make it look better because some of these machines have seen some very hard times and have been repainted some strange ways. I put myself in this group because I like the look of the original machine but may take a little a liberty some times with the repaint. I always try to keep the mech as original as possible. Next you have the total restore people. Total restoration to make it look new. That being said, the machine that you are looking at has had some major changes. I don't recall Mills using brass trim on the Jewell Bell or any other machines. The anti-drill plates are missing on the inside. It looks like the jackpot trip lever is missing. It states that the jackpot works, but I don't know about that with the lever missing. The cabinet does show the serial number on the back. I believe the Jewel Bells had painted cabinets. Back door looks to be original but I don't know about the lock. Cash box is a repo. The front castings looks as if they could be a recast also. The mounting holes for the anti-drill plates are not tapped out plus the lines do not match up with the cabinet. There has been a lot of liberties taken with this machine. Here is a picture of what I call a new old look Jewel Bell. Hope this helps
By the way there is also a group of people who will throw anything together to make a machine and then try to sell it. Since a lot of Mills parts are interchangable it is pretty easy to do and there are a lot of repo parts out there also. Do your homework before you buy.

[Factotum]

Thank you, there is much I do not know but it is fun learning. Thank you again for the detailed explanation.