What I wouldn’t give to have one of these babies sitting amongst my Victorian antiques in the parlor. I’m in the process of selling my ca. 1999 pool table whose removal will open a new swath of floor real estate for Victorian antiques!
If I wanted this antique slot machine to take some of that space, I’d need to be prepared to spend between $54,000 and $108,000, which is the expected price range for the sale of this one according to governmentauction.com.
Slot Machine History
Sittman and Pitt invented a five drum gambling machine in 1891 that represented a deck of 50 cards due to the popularity of poker at the time. It is considered the precursor to modern gambling machines. When a customer won on these machines, they may have been offered a cigar or beer as payment, but that was obviously awarded by a human.
Charles Fey provided the revolutionary changes to the slot machine design that provided for automatic payment by the machine itself by employing 3 drums instead of 5, greatly reducing the number of winning permutations. This was the famous Liberty Bell model which included a cracked Liberty Bell as one of the images in the reels.
According to Slot Machine Resource:
There are some who say he invented the first mechanical slot machine in 1887, four years BEFORE Sittman and Pitt’s machine hit the bars of New York. There are others who state that Fey conceived his innovation in 1895, four years AFTER Sittman and Pitt’s machine. It is the year 1895 however, that seems to prove more popular with gambling history enthusiasts. Regardless of the chronology, Fey’s invention was revolutionary.
The Caille Eclipse will be sold today starting at $10,000. Judging from other machines I’ve Googled, it is probably from 1898-1907. More at the listing.
From Liberty Bell Slot Machine Books
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
” I’m in the process of selling my ca. 1999 pool table ”
You mean 1899?
Nope, 1999. http://flickr.com/photos/67005936@N00/sets/72157607471522286
Don’t use it enough to warrant having it.
Only getting about 1/3 of what I paid for all of it, though. Massive depreciation is part of the reason I now buy antique furniture…
Very nice. It sold for $18,900.00 (+BP) – significantly less than it’s estimate. I know old slot machines are highly collectible and can bring big money. woodwright
Yeah, governmentauction.com has a habit of putting an outsized range on what I’ve seen from them in past.
My primary interest is upright slot machines of this vintage, the Victorian furniture I have is just to highlight them! The best place to pick these up is at Peter Sidlow’s “Victorian Casino Antiques Auction” held twice a year in Las Vegas. They are pricey, but beautiful and fun.
Jeff, thanks for the tip and welcome to the site. Some day when I hit it big on Blackjack in Vegas I’ll go down the street and buy one of these!