Roman head information please

[JHSS-1944]

Hello to all !
Let's see who really knows their Mills Roman head slot machines..... I need information.

1) where might you find the serial number on a Goose neck version... on the casting , right side top ?? OR not on the casting at all ??
2) any one recall seeing Reproductions of a goose neck version Roman head , with skill stop buttons (on top) ??

3)has anyone seen a goose neck version, which takes 50 cent coins ; coin entry is like the odd fish mouth style ??

4) since the casting has the space / window for the token award, how odd would it be to Not have this mechanism in it. also the same for the jackpot ?? token space has a plate over it. jackpot made to hold coins in both the J.P. & Reserve windows But, NO payout. Extra coins to coin box.
this slot is a 10 stop type, 3rd disk looks like it has a mystery payout ; not a hole but, a longer slot in it.

Might be a very old repaint, not sure. all the wood looks to new for "1931". payout plate long ago removed. And the reel strips have been replaced by " numbers & colored back rounds , Which seem to fit perfectly with the 10 stop .... ie. the size of each number covers #1 & what would be #2 spots on a regular fruit reel strip. these strips seem older than the rest of the machine.

was told little about it , since they knew nothing & swore it took nickles (wrong). I was told it did work but , not now.
I thought it was still worth the $550.00 & bought it.
the Mech. was bolted down to the main plate, So I was not able to remove , ect. at that time.

main plate (base plate) is marked MLB 1144 ...50 (cent sign). few parts seem to be marked mlb.

A 1940's / 1950's revamp ??? it does work well at least.

Any one with a clue ,please chime in.
Jeff H.

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Jeff:
Yes, Mills "Roman Head" has been reproduced, but not as many as most other models, and were
generally in 25c denomination. No one in their right mind would have done a 50c version. All the
Repros are HalfTops. I have never seen a repro gooseneck model. All denominations of the HalfTop
Roman Head came with or without all the bells & whistles, (operating jackpots, gold award, skill
stops, etc.). The 50c gooseneck that I bought many years ago, was U.S. legit. It had gold award,
but no operating jackpot. Just cards behind the glasses. It also did not have the lumps in the front
casting for the skill stop feature to be installed, and I have never seen the skill buttons on top of
the case. The coin entry on the 50c gooseneck, is more of a 'semi-fishmouth', not like the HalfTop.
You say that your machine has number strips. This tells me, that it could very well be an export
model, that played on the large 1d penny. They used number strips on many slots and trade stims
as well. Play your half dollars, and check the payouts. If you are shorted coins, except for the 2 pay,
then you have an export model. In any case, $550 is still a good buy.
Bill

[Richard13]

Sounds like a revamp repro to me bring that thing over to my place and I'll give you $500 to take the sting out of it for you! Fill the coin tube with 50 cent pieces first and go get SILVER ONES from pre 1964 too to make it more authentic to me. Not much to a gold award mechanism it might be there. BUT THE AWARD COINS ARE VERY SIZE SPECIFIC! Get some made for a 50 cent machine and hope it was not made for the European market. Do it today and I'll buy lunch! Here are some photos of Jeffs machine to help identify. Hope that's ok Bud!
Nice find looks legit to me.

[Anglobritish]

Hi Guy's,
It sounds to me like this Roman Head model is a British Old Penny model (The same size as a 50 cent coin) in the 1930's The Samson Novelty Company Ltd of London was the official Mills Novelty Co, distributor for Europe, they ordered thousands of machines at a time. also the U.K models used numbers instead of fruit symbals, they called them Totalisator reels, because "Fruit Machines" as slot machines are known in the U.K were illegal. it would be interesting to see if the Reel Strips had the Mills Novelty name on them, or the strips could have been fitted in the U.K. by Samson Novelty Co, if you look at some of the earlier editions of "Spinning Reels" the Mills Novelty publication, you will see many references to The Hollaway family and their company Samson Novelty Company Ltd, Samson also had their own Gold Awards in their Gold Award models. The large S shaped Gooseneck was made for the English Penny, also there was not many 50 cent models produced by any of the U. S companies in the 1930's.

If you go to http://www.coin-opcommunity.co .uk and type in the search box Freddy Bailey you will find many articles written by me about the industry, one of them I wrote for the descendants of the Hollaway family several years ago, I own the scrapbooks that Harry Hollaway saved during the glory days of The Samson Novelty Company Ltd that was founded in the early 1920's.

See the attached pictures one of a Roman Head Silent converted from Old English Penny/50 cent to a British sixpence a slightly bigger size than the U.S dime.

Freddy Bailey

[JHSS-1944]

Thank you Richard for posting the photos !! And thank you Freddy for the information, which sounds about right.
the reel strips kinda looked familiar some how , never thought about it being a british machine .
I will have to check the pay outs. the award card is missing but, kinda would have been nice to see the one matching the strips.
Guess I'll have to see if I can locate an image of one on a machine.

will talk to "dave" about the rest of the parts for the skill stop.
either I will find a copy of the Brit p.o. card & put it on this machine OR find a mills one & replace the strips. Not in any hurry on that part yet. plus got 2 other slots I'm currently working on.

The wood is not 1930's for sure but, nicely done.

Thanks again you two !!!!
jeff H.

[JHSS-1944]

Forgot.... the real strips; 1st one marked " ac " ; 2nd one edge is missing = torn off, & the third marked "cs".
might be more printed on it farther up ????
jeff H.

[JHSS-1944]

Sorry , thank you also Bill for your information !!!!
Jeff

[SLOT DYNASTY]

Jeff:
The 6pence "Roman Head" pix that Freddy shows above, appears to have a Totalisator award card,
still hovering below the new fruit card, that was put there, when the strips were changed. I don't
think you will want to keep it with number strips, especially if they are damaged. Also, I have no
idea where you would find a good card & strip set to replace. I think it is best to find the right set
of fruit paper, and if the slides are Brit-Penny, invest in a set of U.S. 50c slides, (which will be a
bit more than nickel to quarter), but you are into the machine at a reasonable price to do so, and I
promise that I will not be calling your machine a Fake, when it is finished. All you are doing, is
putting it back to what I could have started life as, on this side of the pond. Sounds good to me!
Bill

[JHSS-1944]

Bill;
I would like it with fruits.... but right now was looking for slot image of this p.o. card, but so far can't find one.
wanted to see how it pays out as is... & as suggested ,play it & compare. right now I'm positive it's Brit.; which is fine.
before I bought it , I never knew the Roman heads could be in the goose neck form. and since then , can only find 1 image (very small / low quality) on the internet.

will have to recheck each disk also , as I know 1 is not a typical hole but, a longer slot (mystery pay out type). need to look for any stampings on the disks ,ect.
And as I told Richard, I found a "bug" on the star on the middle disk , makes it skip over one tooth

the casting should / should not be serial numbered ??
And remember.... the woman I bought it from swears it played NICKLES !!! O.K., how ???
so far only wiped off the inch of cooking grease coating the casing. sat on their kitchen counter for years.
they thought a grand kid "broke it" , so time to sell. the coin detecting pin came loose &turned a little & jammed up the whole thing. 2 seconds in my hands = fixed.

after getting my Pace parts, ordering a few Jennings parts, then I'll talk to Dave on parts for this. I should have my pay checks routed directly to him.
thanks bill !
jeff

[Anglobritish]

Hi,
I think I have an original award card in one of the Samson Novelty Scrapbooks, bear with me, I will find it and scan it for you, you can then copy it.

Freddy Bailey