CoinOpCollectorForum.com

I am selling a Rol-A-Top nickel slot machine for a friend and would like to know the age and approximate value. The serial number is: 69172 and it works fine, original. I looked around on the net for serial number identification but could not find any references.
Any help would be appreciated.

mrnw25 wrote:I am selling a Rol-A-Top nickel slot machine for a friend and would like to know the age and approximate value. The serial number is: 69172 and it works fine, original. I looked around on the net for serial number identification but could not find any references.
Any help would be appreciated.

Your machine is a Coin Front Rol-A-Top

If you go to http://www.AntiqueSlotMachinePriceGuide.com you should see many examples of what they have actually sold for on eBay and at major coin op auctions.

You will see a ton of Rol-A-Tops on the web with unrealistic asking prices.

All Rol-A-Tops are collectible and valuable. Do have to note that this machine has been reworked. Has the American Coin top casting but non-American coin bottom casting. Does subtract from its potential selling price.

Flip

It is perfectly normal and common for a Rol-A-Top to have an American top casting and a foreign bottom although most collectors would like American on both. Just like the early cast in horn Birds have American coin bottoms but almost all others have foreign bottoms. It was obvisouly a period when they were switching to foreign castings and a number of machines ended up with both but they did leave the factory that way. The only thing I notice replaced on this machine is the denomination badge. With the horizontal serial screw pattern and early serial, the badge should be the blue and white version. Most like the restorer tried to clean it with an ammonia based product and wiped off the lithograph.

Watlingboy

Thanks Watlingboy - that is news to me and appreciate the info. My response was based on an exchange that I had previously with a potential Rol-A-Top purchase. Was specifically looking for a nice original quarter Rol-A-Top (still am looking if one is out there). Planned a trip to Chicagoland as one of the dealers (won't mention name but one of the Chicago dealers with many machines at the show) had contacted me with a quarter Rol-A-Top coin front just what I was looking for. Yep - American coin top casting and foreign coin bottom casting. I challenged him and he finally admitted he had mixed castings from two Rol-A-Tops. This was on Friday during set-up and several dealers that I knew commented - consensus was that coin front Rol-A-Tops originally were either American Coin or foreign coin from Watling factory. Found out later that this dealer is known to do this on occasion - that at a previous show , his Treasury with vendor was a mix of a Rol-A-Top vendor front and standard Treasury. Good to have a blog to share this info!

Flip

WatlingBoy what would the estimated price be for this nickel machine. It has a serial number of about 75000 and the skill stop feature. Thanks.

Are you selling it or just looking for value?

Just looking for valuation. It's all original keys, doors, cash box etc..

WatlingBird wrote:Just looking for valuation. It's all original keys, doors, cash box etc..

Are you looking for a value for "insurance purposes"?

Are you looking for a value of what a dealer would pay?

Are you looking for a value of what they have recently sold for at auction?

Are you looking for a value of what a dealer would sell it for?

Are you looking for an idea of what you could get for it on eBay?

All of these values are different and they would be different by thousands of dollars.

In addition, you don't include any photos of the sides or the back or of the mechanism. You don't state what is original and what has been replaced. It is kind of hard for people to give you an idea without the proper information.

If you want to see what Birds and other Rol-A-Tops have actually sold for go to www.AntiqueSlotMachinePriceGuide.com.

Your machine has skill stops and it is a bird. The vast majority of those are foreign birds (main French).

Dave

Dave is correct, it is hard to give a value without more information. It's like saying, What is my car worth without any information or pictures. Your machine is not French, they are all quarter machines. Also, skill stops on an American Rol-A-Top are rare and I use that word carefully. We are used to seeing many machines with skill stops because all of the French Birds which were brought back into the United States from France and Belguim. They are almost always vender fronts. The next question is, Were the skill stops original to this machine when it left the factory or did someone add them? The Rol-A-Top skill stop mech has been reproduced by more than a couple of people over the years. Many machines had a removeable casting on the back bonnet. If the back bonnet was drilled for skill stops but there were never installed, then a small casting was bolten in over the holes. Someone could have removed the casting and installed repro skill stops or simply drilled the back bonnet and installed skill stops. If it has factory installed skill stops, it is a rare version of a Rol-A-Top. The restoration however is not correct as the birds were never painted and this can hurt the value slightly depending on the collector.

Watlingboy