Very Strange Castle Front

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Very Strange Castle Front

Postby greenman77 » Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:15 am

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I am hoping the collective knowledge of this group can help me figure out what kind of strange machine I have. It appears at first glance to be an early Mystery Golden Bell with dark cabinet, but the internals are something I have never seen before. The person I acquired it from said that in his 40+ years in the business he has never seen one like it before. He told me that the modifications are factory installed and original. What it does is play normally on coins or checks but then routes all coins to cash box and uses only checks for jackpot and coin tube, i. e. it only pays out checks. That would mean it is a Mystery Vender with Gold Award per Mills advertising. It has the vender cutout in the cabinet with the metal insert installed. The serial number is 337236 on both the casting and the paper slip inside the cabinet.The strange part is that the internals have no anti-check payout parts at all and the escalator only has a coin sensing arm with the top front casting having a built in set of icon raceways to route all money to cash box. In operation when a coin gets to the next to last position and the handle is started down and the escalator starts to move it has a check seeking tooth push the coin into the cash box race way as the windup phase just starts and if it is a check the tooth enters the center of the check and advances it until the handle pull releases the escalator at which time it drops the coin into the coin tube/ jackpot routing. I am baffled. If this was intended to be a vendor it would not work as it takes five "coins" to get to the point where check separation actually occurs.The only small clue is that the machine may be from Louisiana area as a few of the checks are from a "Bayou Novelty Company"
If any one can tell me anything I would be grateful.
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Re: Very Strange Castle Front

Postby rtmccurdy » Sat Jul 15, 2017 1:50 pm

Interesting machine. On a side note has anyone ever reproduced the horizontal fortune with gold award reel strips??
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Re: Very Strange Castle Front

Postby drishoff » Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:05 pm

Here is one without the separation slide and one with but both have two escalator arms.

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Re: Very Strange Castle Front

Postby jmac » Sun Jul 16, 2017 7:48 am

This one is an even earlier SN 331xxx, 5c with Gold Award, has the raceway and both escalator arms. The mech looks a little different than yours, and a little more complete with a few extra factory original parts. I have not tested it with checks, it doesnt currently have a side vender but looks like it may have in the past. I believe this one to be an original from Los Angeles.

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Re: Very Strange Castle Front

Postby drishoff » Sun Jul 16, 2017 9:10 am

The one with the coin separation slide also came out of the Los Angeles area and had Camoa Los Angeles tokens mixed with some others. Serial 361XXX
There were also 4 tin pieces on the inside. Opinions on the purpose. Anti cheat? or?
Before and partial after. I need reel strips also. CC-314-1A-SG-1, CC-314-2-G-2, CC-314-3-G-3



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Re: Very Strange Castle Front

Postby greenman77 » Sat Jul 22, 2017 9:14 am

Thank you everybody for the info, I had other projects so I am slow to get back to you. After checking a few more machines and escalators I have, I have solved the mystery. The factory changes were made to both the case internals but most importantly the escalator itself. The way this machine is made makes it completely impossible to ever pay back any money at all. every coin inserted bypasses the normal paths and goes directly to the cash box. Checks are the only thing that will go to either coin tube or jackpot. Luckily I have a few hundred nickel size checks, mostly Mills OK vendor type, and am able to fill and play the machine. The forced operation as it is explains why there is no check detector arms on escalator and mechanism or check anti payout parts in the machine. They are not needed. I still can't imagine what kind of location would have ordered this setup from Mills but apparently they were able to accommodate most buyers unique needs. It is interesting that the token you sent a picture of is a trade token and may be of value to a numismatist if it is scarce. Who knows what amusement park it is from. The reverse most likely says Good for one Game.
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