This five-cent Mills floor model roulette slot machine was the star of the auction, bringing $289,050.
LAS VEGAS, NEV. – Morphy Auctions posted the results of its sale of the Barry Goldfarb collection of coin-op and gambling antiques on January 28-29 at the company’s Las Vegas auction gallery.
The sale’s offerings of countertop slot and poker machines generated enormous interest among buyers from all over the world. A Charles Fey Liberty Bell slot machine and shipping crate rang true to realize $174,000. This 1895 example, in working, all-original untouched condition, is considered the apex of all coin-op gambling machines ever manufactured. A circa 1905-10 five-cent Caille Liberty package gum slot machine, believed to be the only known surviving example, made $126,000. It was designed to sidestep the gambling laws of the time by dispensing a pack of gum with every play. An early 1900s one-cent Caille Hy-Lo poker machine took the high road to realize $36,900. And a late 1930s five-cent Mills Novelty Co. Hoke Snake slot machine, featuring a distinctive serpentine motif on the upper and lower castings, more than doubled its low estimate to make $60,000.
A five-cent Charles Fey Liberty Bell slot machine and shipping crate finished at $174,000.
Floor slot machine highlights included a rare circa 1905 five-cent Mills roulette slot machine in all original condition with nickel plated iron castings and quartersawn oak cabinet, which spun its way to $289,050. Collectors took a double take on a rare five-cent and 25-cent Pace Royal Comet Twin slot machine, which realized $25,200 – more than three times its low estimate. This double console machine’s mechanisms can be used separately or together with the center pull handle.
Bidders found a five-cent Mills The Judge musical cabinet slot machine desirable. This unusual example, featuring an oak cabinet with recessed panels and carved applique details and ornate cast iron elements, realized $29,520. And one buyer struck gold with a 1949 life-sized carved wooden five-cent Pace “8” Star Bell Frank Polk miner slot machine. This signed rarity made $39,600.
Trade stimulators left nothing up to chance. A 1920s-era ten-cent Lukat The Lucky Cat example, which realized $27,060, rewards winning players with a gumball and cigars. An early Twentieth Century cast iron five-cent Watling Color Match trade stimulator, with its unusual and original side vendor, realized $30,000. An early 1900s five-cent Mills Bull’s-Eye counter wheel trade stimulator featuring ornately detailed castings affixed to a matching cast iron rotating base and a near-mint tin litho color wheel hit $36,900. And a circa 1935 five-cent Superior Vendomat cigarette vender trade stimulator was bid to $33,210, more than twice its high estimate.
Prices reported include the buyer’s premium
According to Dan Morphy, president of Morphy Auctions, “It was especially thrilling to be at this auction in person. The energy and excitement in the room from start to finish was simply amazing. It was an honor to handle the Barry Goldfarb collection and I am certain that buyers will be extraordinarily happy with their purchases from this fine grouping. Please mark your calendars for our next premier coin-op sale, which will be conducted on May 27-28 at our Las Vegas gallery.”
For additional information, www.morphyauctions.com or 702-382-2466.
