PITTSFIELD, MASS. — Bidders were in an old-time gambling mood at Fontaine’s January 6 sale, which featured 250 lots of fine antiques, jewelry, lighting, clocks, sculpture and more. The top lot of the sale was a Caille Bros. musical double upright slot machine, which brought $72,600 including buyer’s premium to a phone bidder. Fitted in an oak case, the left side game was a 25-cent big six Caille’s Centaur with jackpot, and the slot machine on the right side was a 5-cent big six The Caille Eclipse.

The slot machine bounced between phone bidders until it reached its final price, and auctioneer John Fontaine credits the result to the machine’s excellent condition.

“It was a beautiful machine, fully restored, working condition, a very attractive unit,” said Fontaine. “I’ve had some of these before and they get abused quite a bit. The appearance was beautiful on this one and I think that had a lot to do with the selling price.”

Watch for a full review in an upcoming issue.