Advice please on the following Mills machines

[alan57]

Can anyone give me some advice on the following Mills bandits, I have the chance of buying one but not sure which one to go for, they are all working and on the old penny

[badpenny]

I'm not being deliberately obtuse here ........ but what advice do you want?

It's really down to personal choice, condition, the internals and finally budget.

Personally I think 1 and 2 are boring.
The last one, I'd want to go over with a fine tooth comb as we had a spate of 10 stop mechs being shoved in reproduction Poinsettia cases only a few years back. Nicely done mind you but still naughty.

As for number 4, we had something similar go through the Coventry auction about 4/5 years ago - I think it was a Firman. The coin entry is the wrong side and the escalator would have to run backwards in order to successfully drop the coin at the wrong end.

The Extraordinary looks nice, seems to have a Gold Award, escalator and JP. But without looking inside who knows?

Which one tempts you?
BP

[aristomatic]

Is this your first machine or do you have others?

Are you collecting it or having it shipped to you?

[alan57]

Thanks for the info BP, I've always collected allwins, but recently started looking to add a couple of bandits to my collection working on the old penny. I've got one Mills hi top, but my knowledge of Mills machines regarding variety is somewhat limited, hence my original question. Looking for a fully working machine, priced around the £1,000 - £1,500.

[treefrog]

That is no small budget and would buy at least two+ of these machines. As BP says, first thing is looks, what takes your fancy, then is there anything wrong.....

Number 3 machine, I cannot remember what these are called and not as common as other half tops and has original paint, oddly it has a Buckley escalator surround, which is wrong.

The one that interests me the most is the first one, never seen that design around the coin entry, wonder if this not Mills, maybe Firmans. Anyone seen this before?

[aristomatic]

http://www.coinopcollectorforum.com/vie ... f=6&t=4439


Strangely enough, like buses, I had never seen that coin entry before till reviewing some old Golden Nugget posts on this forum and saw this one.

Hopefully get an answer with some information.

[pennymachines]

As for number 4, we had something similar go through the Coventry auction about 4/5 years ago - I think it was a Firman. The coin entry is the wrong side and the escalator would have to run backwards in order to successfully drop the coin at the wrong end.

Yes, that was my impression. As an oddball British knockoff of a US bandit I find it historically interesting, but value-wise, probably worth less than a genuine Mills Roman Head.

[badpenny]

I even remember who bought it ..... he was last seen kicking himself around the car park when it dawned on him why he got it without too much competition.
Still he did have his new girl friend with him so was probably distracted.
BP
ps ... I also remember the vendor ... a proper gentleman who described it with total honesty.

[coppinpr]

As everyone says it's about what you like AND what you want to do with it. I like the Extraordinary best for looks but might take the Golden Falls as I like to restore and you could do a good job on that one (in fact I'd be interested in that one if you don't buy it, PM me if it's available please). Price-wise, as the others have said, nothing here worth £1000. Because it LOOKS to have all the bits (inc. the pre-war Eagle front plate, although that looks a bit too new to be original) the Extra MIGHT make £700 on a good day(?) if more than one person wanted it. As we always say on here the value is tied to how much you want it. This makes it a problem for you because you don't seem to mind which one you buy.
The Roman Head everyone seems to think is dodgy and the unusual half front is probably rare because it's so boring no one bought any (could it be a Buckley refurb TF?)

[alan57]

Thanks guys for the help and advice, Ive learned a lot today .