This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/28/2019
Eureka Coin Drop Automatic Payout Slot Machine. [Baltimore], ca. 1889/early 1890s. Oak cabinet with rounded top, the front with two columns flanking the central glass panel through which five rows of jackpot tokens are visible. 18 x 12 x 19 ½”. Top cracked, small nicks to edges. Lock and key. Working condition. Rare. Attributed to George W. Price of the Eureka Box Co., of Baltimore, this machine bears close similarities with Price’s 1889 patent design for a “coin box,” which coin-op historian Dick Bueschel called “the first slot machine” (Coin Drop International, Sept./Oct. 1996, pg. 22). This cabinet is of the same form as Price’s original design, however the front window on this model is larger, allowing more coins to be shown, a modification probably intended to attract more attention from prospective players. And instead of employing two “channels” for the player’s coin to take when dropped inside, this improved mechanism incorporates five, so that a customer might win one or all the coins from the five rows. Coins placed in the machine could be actual currency or, as presently shown, trade tokens to the establishment where the machine was used.