Australian collection in the news

[pennymachines]

I thought I should share this interesting article (and video) of a super Australian vintage slot machine collection, which belongs to one of our members here.

I thought our members might be interested in an article in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald.

It covered my son Paul's collection (by the way he is a member and well known to Jerry) which in the main was acquired in England. We also came to visit you on one of his trips Home.
...
The article also appeared in five other papers around Oz owned by this Group and at present vies between 4th & 5th most read in the Money section.

Hope you find it interesting,

Players in the penny arcade

Pictures

[grabber]

Nice machines.

[thunder]

The Answerite is great. Are there other versions of that? like the 6 draw calendar card giver. I've seen a few different versions of the draw arrangement, with different fronts, that all look good but basically do very little.

Nice collection.

[pennymachines]

The Answerite is great.

Here it is in use:

[john t peterson]

His machines looked to be in very nice condition. I don't know prices in Australia but $9,000 for the Mutoscope seems pretty high. It would not bring anything close to that here in the States.

[gameswat]

I don't know prices in Australia but $9,000 for the Mutoscope seems pretty high. It would not bring anything close to that here in the States.

John, he was talking about the English made hexagonal Mutoscope and these are very rare compared to the US made Clamshell mutos from the same 1899 period. Looks like he also has an original cast iron stand of some kind with it too. These machines are fragile with very thin castings so almost all the surviving examples are cracked in some ways. A US collector on the west coast owns at least 12 of these which is crazy! I missed an unrestored example at an auction in Perth in the mid 1990's with a bid of $6000 even then! It had a lovely stand and good reel, plus an original plate attached saying "Only licensed for use in Queensland Australia".

[jingle]

I found 4 of hexagonal ones
In the find With the Mathewson gripper and twister
But none have cracks
I think there pretty strong
I remember when I found mine
I was pushing it on a sack truck
And it rolled of and went along the ground
Like a wheel going down a hill
It was dark so didnt know if any damage till I got home
I could not see which one it was out the 4
It didnt even chip the original paint

But 3 have chips on the bottom corners
We're they must have been dropped
Coz there some weight without the stands even

Could do with finding a top marquee for them
To recast
I have one tucked away
In the garage I will post a picture later

[jingle]

They were all exact the same condition
And all work perfect
Which amazes me after 110 years

[john t peterson]

Thanks for the amplification, Gameswa. I did not catch the distinction.

J Peterson
American Gratefulness

[gameswat]

To be more precise it's the side door and door frame that are the weak point in these machines. Not only thin castings but the door is designed to sit at a 90 degree angle when open, but if anybody accidently even gently leans on it while servicing, CRACK! I've seen about 18 or so in the flesh of the English and French made hexagonal models that i can think of, and about 15 had cracked or missing hinges and frames and quite a few cracked doors. Plus many had other corners missing and cracks through the castings. I'd guess that maybe the four machines you found Bob all had a very charmed life, maybe they sat on the same location and never moved far?

[jingle]

Yes your right ,,on my four i think
A couple of the hinges have been damaged
If I remember now the
Door is chained on the inside

Don't think you would have come across
These ones I found Rory
They were discovered in a barn
By a roofer who took the machines in payment for work
Of the new owner
I bought a load of him and there was not one new coinage
In any machine
So obviously stored away before 1970

[pennymachines]

I sold one at the first Coventry auction. It was broken in several places and the worm gear was shot. This was before I heard about low temperature cast iron brazing rods...