Please help with value and age

[BigBrother]

First post, sorry in advance if I break any forum rules. I am able to buy a Mills antique machine off of an associate. He has informed me that the machine does have a serial # of 578919 and I do not see any red flags as to authenticity. I know these are not extremely rare but I do like it and am interested in buying. I know it is a Mills High Top 7-7-7 quarter machine, he thinks it is 30's, from research I'm guessing 40's or 50's. Any help in identifying year and value would be appreciated. The machine works but I don't know to what extent (I can play with quarters and it will spit some out from time to time but don't know if it pays jackpot, etc.). No idea about the insides but another friend who has worked on it has stated nothing looked new. Once again any help with a ballpark value and help identifying year is greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance for any assistance in helping me value this machine. Tried to research on my own and after a few hours can't tell the difference in a 1935 and 1955 nor a difference in $1100 and $4000 machine.
Thanks,
Ben

[radiorich123]

HI

The machine is 1948 and it looks like it has no mechanical auto jackpot installed.I have bought these machines for 800.00 in the past. The 25 cent is a good one to have and the sell prices working and paying out properly would be from 1000.00 to 1400.00 for a nice cond one. I am located in New Jersey.

Rich

[watlingboy]

The working jackpot is not an issue because it has a guaranteed pay, meaning there is no jackpot and an attendant would pay you. Occasionally there cards are in front of a jackpot but rarely. The value I would put on it is $1200, so if you gave your friend $900 for a pawn and he decided not to get it back, you could easily sell it and get your money back. You could probably get $1200 but it might take longer. To check prices, only look at Dave's Price Guide or Ebay sold items. It means nothing to look at listed items for sale because tons of machines are unrealistically priced and will never sell. Only completed sales will tell you anything.

Watlingboy

[nvmos2]

Coincidentally, I just sold this same model in the same condition yesterday for $850.
However, that was to a friend, so I feel I gave him a "special deal" low price.

[BigBrother]

Thank you all for the information you have given. You guys are a blessing for anyone looking into slots and I really appreciate your generosity in helping others with the time you give to provide information. I like the idea of having the jackpot mechanism and coins in the window, is it feasible to add this and if so what is a rough idea of the cost? Am I correct to assume that these machines are common enough that it won't kill the value too much if I take some liberties with the color scheme (nothing crazy, just not being too particular with keeping original or time period specific).

Also was curious about restoration cost. I am communicating with a local guy who I think is reasonable. He has quoted me $200 to take guts out, clean, fix, and lube. $300 to strip case, refinish, and have castings sandblasted and repainted. New glass and real strips for $75. His prices seem reasonable to me but would like another opinion. He sent me pictures of one of his projects and his work looks good.