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Greetings all,

I've recently come into a pair of Mills slots. One I believe is real, but I'm not sure about the other. I'd like folks' opinion on both. Any info is welcome - authenticity, value, the works.

They are a 25 cent Castle Front and a 5 Cent Black Cherry.

25 cent Castle Front

Found the serial number easily. Appears not to have been restored, with very little original paint remaining. Machine works.









5 cent Black Cherry

Could not find a serial number on case, wood or any stickers. Appears to have been painted (powder coated?) and cherries repainted as part of a restoration. Machine works.








Thanks in advance for any assistance or opinions!

Okay - after fiddling around with the images I think (hope) they're showing up properly now.

Thanks in advance for any help or information!

Both machines look original to me although some minor replacement parts may have been used like locks, keys or cashboxes.

jmisatu wrote:Both machines look original to me although some minor replacement parts may have been used like locks, keys or cashboxes.

Thanks. You are right the locks & keys are definitely replacements, and the cash box on the Black Cherry is also not original. I'm also thinking the award plate on the Black Cherry is a replacement, as it looks to be incomplete? There appears to be something missing on the lower right column?

Seems like the Castle Front needs to be painted. It appears to have been stripped and not repainted.

Any ideas as to value of these machines?

Other comments welcome!






(Edited the OP to include pics as attachments so they can be viewed in hi-res. I'll get this image thing nailed down if it kills me!)

Yes, you're right on the Black Cherry award card. It's missing the payout number on the one cherry payout. That should show a '2' or '3' (coins) for the one cherry payout.

The castle front is interesting; custom reel strips/award card.
What does the small print say that is printed over "Automatic" on the bar symbol?

nvmos2 wrote:The castle front is interesting; custom reel strips/award card.
What does the small print say that is printed over "Automatic" on the bar symbol?

Good catch on the custom reel strips. I didn't notice that. It says "COIN MACHINE CORPORATION" over the word "AUTOMATIC" with "SPRINGFIELD, MASS" printed below.
The strips are old and stained, and don't appear to be new or reproductions.



How do I date these machines?

Automatic Coin Machine Corp was a large distributor run by Gene Baker and Slim Kelly in the late 1930s. Baker was a former Jennings salesman and their company was the exclusive distributor for Jennings in the New England area.
They bought machines of all types; their Moto: "If it operates with a coin - We have it".

The award card is from the Baker Black Beauty line of slot machines.

The reel strips and award card are an important part of the machine's history; I hope you don't even think about replacing them.

Thanks much for the info! I'm definitely planning on keeping both the reel strips and the award card.

I do plan to paint the machine though. Someone has stripped it bare and it needs to look more traditional, IMO.

Any idea of the value of these two machines, if I should offer them for sale?

For painting, I would recommend going with a Baker paint scheme since the card indicates it may have been revamped by them at some point.