DO I HAVE A RARE MILLS 25-CENT WAR EAGLE?

[Marcellous]

I have what I hope is a rare Mills War Eagle. I tried sending several images but couldn't find the place to upload images. I contacted the Administrator but received no response. I will state a few things for hopefully some responses. Starting with, where the 25-cent button is lacks a denomination. I read several years ago that the first War Eagles that Mills did didn't have the 25-cent shown. Also, important the award card payouts are quite different. The card is correct for the machine does payout what the award card shows. I have never seen that payout on a machine before. The serial number seems to be very early and is: 261395. I would appreciate your thoughts on what I have said so far. The machine is beautifully restored. I asked one top restorer if he was the one that restored the machine and he said he didn't restore it. He also said he has never seen that payout before. Whoever restored the machine really knew what he or she was doing. The reel strips are new as well as the award card and I am sure the lock is a later replacement. The key certainly doesn't look like the typical Mills slot machine key. The key name shows "Watson Mfg. Co. Jamestown." On the back of key has a number "DW106." The cashbox and back door are original. I'd like to send several images for you to fully see the machine inside and out. I did a Google search on trying to find an award card like this one and came up with nothing. Here are the payouts: Two cherries with plum, orange and bar pay TWO COINS. Two cherries with bell or lemon pay THREE COINS ONLY. Oranges pay SEVEN COINS, Plums pay ELEVEN COINS, Bells pay FOURTEEN and Bars pay EIGHTEEN COINS plus the jackpot. The jackpot pays anywhere from $15.50 to $16.75.

So many of you on the forum are very knowledgeable and I look forward to reading your responses. Hopefully I will eventually be able to send images.

[Dave]

To upload an image, click on the upload attachment and follow the instructions.

[Marcellous]

Thanks. I now see the small "Img" to click on. I will send images a bit later.

[oldtimeslots.com]

Honestly to me it sounds like an English or European export War Eagle and the foreign machines would have had a standard awards card with the common payouts but when it was restored the awards card was custom made. I have made this type of awards card many years ago, one of a kind knock offs. I never reproduced them. I did them a couple times for the German C.F. Schwarz machines
These are my thoughts.
Thanks,
Bill

[Marcellous]

Here are the images. ONE MORE THING! I just noticed a sticker inside and assume it is the person who restored the machine. I will be contacting him to see if he can give me any info on history of it.

[Marcellous]

Well, gee!!! My post has been up for a few days and no one has any real input with the questions I asked about my War Eagle. And here I thought you guys knew all the answers. I have given you good images, the serial number and the brief understanding I read about War Eagles. I have come to the conclusion that I know as much as you do or more.

I do want to thank the one post by Bill (Old Time Slots) for he may well have the answer for the payout. What about no denomination (25-cent) shown? As I said, I read years ago that the very first War Eagles had no denomination shown. I wanted to know if indeed that is a fact. Alas, I contacted the restorer listed inside the machine and have received no answer. His site states he no longer restores slots. Perhaps he is dead and if so, his site should be closed.

[atac]

I think the delay from initial post to pictures might have impacted your input.

That is definitely an early war eagle. The denomination button shown is legit for the first generation machine. I can't speak as to domestic or foreign. The other clue is the solid lower casting--no separate jackpot inspection casting--that is early as well.

[oldslotman]

That appears to be a Nations Attic card. Don is no longer in the slot machine business. He is now into old diving helmets.

[rtmccurdy]

A quick look on Coinopregistry.com places your machine with a 261*** serial in the early days of production (perhaps 1931).
As indicated earlier the solid casting and missing denomination button reinforce the fact that it could be an early issue. I will check Mills promotion ads/articles prior to the War Eagle's debut for additional information (Automatic Age Magazine). The backdoor lock was commonly used prior to 1930 until Mills switched to Bell locks with "snake" keys.

[Marcellous]

Thank you, thank you all for your posts. Very much appreciated. I am very pleased that you all feel I have a very early model. It would be so great if I knew the history of this machine--who had it. It certainly was considered worthwhile for it to be well restored the way it is. Too bad Don is no longer doing restoration. This does not excuse him for not responding to my email. He clearly knows something about this machine and who had it and went to the expense of having it restored. It plays and pays correctly according to the award card. So far I have hit the jackpot three times. I find it so interesting that when the top window falls on the next play to the bottom window that the coins played alternate in the windows until full. Also, I can hear a coin dropping in the cashbox about every sixth coin. Once the windows are full the coins drop periodically into the cashbox at times several at a time and other times each time you play. These people were geniuses that designed these machines. One thing that I don't understand is the payout tube--how much money is in it for payouts? There has to be a lot of coins for sizable payouts when no jackpot is hit. Do I understand that none of the money from the windows are used for general payouts?

Thanks again for your responses. Sorry I had to wake you up with not getting any response to my post and feeling somewhat frustrated.