- Antique Pace Penny Op Slot Machine Price Guide
- Antique Pace Penny Op Slot Machine Free Play
- Antique Pace Penny Op Slot Machine For Sale
Owning a vintage slot machine is one of those fun yet daunting ideas. Many old school one-armed bandits are beautifully designed and instant conversation pieces. Plus slot fans who own a machine don’t ever have to worry about losing money to the house.
Charles August Fey, a Bavaria-born inventor, was living in San Francisco when he invented his first gambling machine in 1984. His games grew to be so popular at local bars, he quit his day job and opened a factory to start mass producing them, most notably the Liberty Bell machines in 1899. A lot of the functionality from that early game remained in place through much of the 20th century. Watch this video to see the seven mechanical actions set into motion when you pull back the bandit’s arm. The inner workings are probably a little more complex than you expect.
Antique Pace Penny Op Slot Machine Price Guide

Gameroom Show sells pre-1940s vintage slot machines in excellent, working condition. These rare antique slot machines are also known as “one-armed bandits” because they were originally operated by one lever on the side of the machine as opposed to a button on the front panel, and because of their ability to leave the gamer impoverished. Gameroom Show sells multi-slot machines, Watling.

Given that a lot of old slot machines are hand built, it isn’t surprising that coins can get jammed on their way through the mechanism. Big warning: If your machine jams, don’t force the arm or you can break, twist or damage a part inside. Different models and makes tend to have common jam points. The Mills model shown in the above video can have coins stuck in the “elevator” section that displays the last five coins dropped into the machine. Getting the slot working again can be as simple as cleaning the gunk off of an old part. You just need to be smart when you’re disassembling and reassembling the machinery.
Okay, there are plenty of more places where a coin can get stuck and the above video demonstrates how to fix a variety of jams. It also explains how to disassemble the major parts of the machine and where common problem areas are.
Curious how an antique slot machine knows how much money a winner gets? This video shows the punch-card like communication that trips payouts and how. If you ever need to replace the reel symbols or calibrate the machine you’ll need to understand how these work. Even if you don’t ever plan on owning a machine, the metallic “circuitry” is interesting to see.
Antique Pace Penny Op Slot Machine Free Play
Want to own a modern slot machine? New ones have plenty more bells, whistles and dings, and also a lot more advanced parts. If you plan on getting one, you may want to have an idea of what’s inside. In addition to the classic reels, there are speakers, motherboards filled with programming chips and plenty of wires. Unless you have a way with a soldering iron you probably won’t try and fix it. But in case you do, here’s a clip from Discovery showing what’s inside.

Did you know newer slot machines are smart enough to test themselves when a problem happens? This video shows you the procedure for having the machine check its own system. The host’s desert dry delivery is also enough to make this vid worth a watch.
Some of the well known companies who manufactured coin op machines were: Caille Brothers, Watling, O.D. Jennings, Clawson, Griswold, Roover Brothers, Mills Novelty Company, William Gent, Exhibit Supply, International Mutoscope, Pace, Bally Reliance, Chester Pollard, Rock-Ola Manufacturing, Pulver, Manikin Vendor, Hance, Columbus, and Charles Fey. Penny arcades had strength testers, lung testers, fortune tellers, mutoscopes, shooting ranges, rifle or gun games, automatic target practice or skill games, and electricity shock machines. Vending machines came in all different shapes and sizes, and dispensed all different products such as gumballs, peanuts, breath pellets, perfume, stick or package gum, cigars, matches, combs, lighter fluid, collar buttons, stamps, chocolate, and candy. Trade stimulators used various forms to attract customers. Some of the most popular were dice machines, cast iron poker machines, sport theme machines (golf, basketball, football, baseball, boxing), roulette, and horse race machines. The earliest slot machines came in an upright wood cabinet with a single color wheel that spins when the handle was released (Centaur, Eclipse, Lonestar, Big Six, Dewey, 20th Century, Victor, New Century Detroit, Black Cat, Duplex, Peerless, Chicago, Judge, Owl, Bullfrog, Cricket)