What Year Were Quarter Slot Machines Made

The legality of buying a used slot machine in the United States varies from state to state. Many online merchants only allow the sale of antique slot machines—actual coin-operated slot machine games that aren’t antiques are generally unavailable for purchase. This is intended to curtail the potential for unlicensed casinos from popping up in various towns across the country.

This page takes a look at the various options available in various states.

Which States Make It Illegal to Own a Used Slot Machine?

The following states have made it illegal to own slot machines privately. This includes any kind of slot machine game, including antiques:

The best advice we can offer to residents of those states is to not buy or try to own a slot machine. Dealers in used and antique slot machines won’t even ship to people living in these states.

  • Alabama
  • New Mexico
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee

Which States Allow You To Own Antique Machines?

Aug 24, 2016  It only took a decade for slot machines to start generating twice as much revenue per year as all the table games put together. By 2003, gambling machines were generating 85% of the casinos’ revenues. You’ll often see 65% or 70% quoted on various websites, by the way. Dec 13, 2019  Introduction to Slot Machines Invented. In this post, I’ll do my best to answer the question, “Where Were Slot Machines Invented?” Between you and me, understanding the history of slot machine development provides us with invaluable insight into this entertainment device.

The following states allow ownership of antique slot machines only. Their definitions of “antique” vary. In most of these states, a game that’s 25 years old or older is an antique, but some of these states have stricter or looser guidelines. We’ve included notes after the states which have a different rule than the 25 years standard:

  • Colorado – Any machine before 1984
  • D.C – Any machine before 1952
  • Florida – Only requires 20 years+
  • Georgia – Any machine before 1950
  • Idaho – Any machine before 1950
  • Illinois
  • Iowa
  • Kansas – Any machine before 1950
  • Massachussets – Requires 30 years+
  • Michigan
  • Missouri – Requires 30 years+
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey – Any machine before 1941
  • New York – Requires 30 years+
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Dakota
  • Vermont – Any machine before 1954

Which States Don’t Have Any Restrictions?

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The following states don’t have restrictions on the ownership of used slot machines:

Keep in mind that laws change all the time, so if you’re unsure about whether or not it’s legal to own a particular type of used or antique slot machine in your jurisdiction, get professional legal advice. We can’t be held responsible for out of date or inaccurate legal information—this site’s purpose is to provide information for educational and entertainment purposes, and it’s not intended to replace the advice of a legal professional.

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Maine
  • Minnesota
  • Nevada
  • Rhode Island
  • Texas
  • Utah

Buying a Used Slot Machine on eBay

Most people buying something used check eBay first. You should be aware that their site has specific guidelines regarding the sale of slot machines. For example, coin-operated machines that aren’t antiques aren’t allowed to be sold there. They also don’t allow the sale of machines which can be converted to accept coins. Replicas that work are NOT considered antiques.

Slot machines that don’t accept currency and don’t pay out money are allowed to be sold on eBay.

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Other Dealers

Antique slot machine dealers often have their own sites and even their own brick and mortar locations where you can do business. For the most part, they’ll follow similar to business practices as the eBay guidelines. In other words, if you live in a state where slot machine ownership is illegal, they probably won’t sell to you.

Prices for used slot machines vary widely based on condition and rarity. Slot Machines and Coin-Op Games: A Collector’s Guide to One-Armed Bandits and Amusement Machines was published in 1994, so much of the information contained within is out of date, but the information about condition and collecting in general is still useful. The book includes lots of photographs and information about other types of coin-operated games, too, including penny arcade games, pinballs, and other novelty games.

Classified Ads

One option for aspiring used slot machine collectors and buyers is to advertise in the classifieds section of the local newspaper. Posting a “want-to-buy” ad might result in finding private owners who are willing to sell used or antique slot machine games for considerably less than a professional dealer would. Don’t bother trying to use the free ads on Craigslist for this purpose though—they have a strict policy related to gambling items, and they don’t allow ads for the purpose of buying, selling, or trading slot machines of any kind.

How Much Does a Used Slot Machine Cost?

We’ve seen some antique slot machines for sale for as little as a $500, but most of them are at least $1000, and the really rare, high-quality slots sell for $3000 or more. Shipping costs are also expensive because of the size and weight of the machines. You can expect to pay at least $250 to ship any reasonable sized slot machine game.

The slot machine was invented in 1895 by a man named Charles Fey in San Francisco, California. Fey had a background in mechanics, and his first slot machine, which he called the Liberty Bell, was indeed a brilliant mechanical system of reels and levers.

The First Slot Machine

The original Liberty Bell slot machine had three spinning reels that featured pictures of playing cards. On each reel there was also a picture of a cracked Liberty Bell. The game was played by pulling the lever at the side of the machine. This set the reels in motion. The player would watch the wheels spin around and eventually come to a stop. If the reels stopped with the three Liberty Bells lined up, the player won the grand jackpot of 50 cents. The machine caught on like wildfire and the culture of slot machines had begun. The original slot machine invented by Charles Fey can still be seen in a restaurant in Nevada.

Slot Machines and Fruit Machines

In 1902, slot machines were banned in many states in America, but this did not deter Fey or any of his competitors. Instead of pictures of playing cards on the machines, they introduced pictures of fruits and candies. If the slot machine showed three pictures of chewing gum or some such item on a line, the player would win an actual packet of gum. This was a way around the gambling ban, but still allowed players to enjoy the thrill of the slots game. From this improvisation, slot machines became known as Fruit Machines, a name that is still widely used in the UK.

For many years, slot machines were totally mechanical. They were operated by pulling a lever at the side of the machine. There has always been a great amount of satisfaction in pulling the lever of a slot machine and feeling the pull behind the motor, as it made the player feel that he was actually controlling the game. The pull on the lever sent the reels in motion, and it also wound up a clockwork-type motor which timed the braking of the reels and when the payout could be released. This type of mechanism was ingenious and was not superseded for many years. The slot machine became known as the “one-armed bandit,” referring to the lever that was pulled as being the one arm.

Advances in Slot Machine Technology

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Eventually, modern technology caught up with the traditional slot machines and fruit machines. In the 1960s, the first electromechanical slot machines were invented. The most famous of these is Bally’s “Money Honey.” By the 1980s, the electromechanical machines were replaced with the electric machines which, as technology advanced, were replaced by the true electric machines which were powered by electric microprocessors. This type of casino slots machine allowed bigger bets to be placed, which meant there would also be bigger payouts. Slot machines continued to grow in popularity and one could see slot machines in practically every leisure club all around the world.

With the introduction of the Random Number Generator, slot machines gained even more popularity. The Random Number Generator is a computer that is programmed to simulate spinning reels and to produce a totally random outcome to the spin. With the introduction of the Random Number Generator, the traditional one-armed bandit machines soon began to disappear. The slot machine could now be operated with just the press of a button. This new technology opened up a whole new world of slot machines,as manufacturers could now develop slot machines with every imaginable type of theme and symbols and with multiple payout lines. Slot machines have become so popular that they now make up about 70 percent of casinos’ floor space and revenue.

The Random Number Generator also permitted the development of the progressive jackpot slot machines. With progressive slot machines, multiple slot machines in the casino, or even in different casinos, are connected electronically. Every coin that is played on any of the connected machines causes the jackpot to grow. The progressive jackpot has no limit; it just grows and grows until somebody wins.

Online Slots Are Born

The biggest advance in slot machine history since the invention of the Liberty Bell was probably the invention of the online casino. The online casinos really took off in the 1990s. And naturally, online casinos, like land-based casinos, have adopted slot machines as their flagship game. Many thousands of people now play slots online from the comfort of their own homes. Online slots offer everything that the physical machines do and more. The lights and colours of the online slot machines beat any land-based game, and as long as the online casino you are playing at is licensed and certified you can be sure it is a fair game.

There have been numerous instances of progressive online slots games paying jackpots of over a million dollars in real money. This is due to the fact that the Internet allows the progressive online slots games from different casinos to be linked together, so that thousands of online slots players are feeding into the jackpot until one lucky player wins at the slot machine and takes it all home. Conversely, online slot machines also offer low bets; coin sizes can be as little as 1 cent which allows the average player a good game with very little investment.

Online slot games offer multi-reel and multi-line payouts; the Cashapillar online slot machine actually has 100 paylines. The possibilities are vast with online slot machines changing every day with the introduction of more advanced computer technology. Online casinos are able to change their graphics and slot machines very easily, providing much more variety for the player. All Slots Online Casino, for example, has over 200 different online slot games and continues to add new slot machines every month.

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Online Slots Tournaments

The next big step, after the development of the online slot machine, was the online slots tournament. In an online slots tournament, slots players from around the world are linked to one another electronically as they compete to accumulate the most coins in their Coin Box and win prizes. The biggest tournament in slot machine history was the $500,000 World Series of Slots, which took place in All Slots Online Casino.

Slot Machine History Marches On

Slot machines have come a long way from the humble beginnings of the Liberty Bell Slot machine in a mechanic’s garage to the vast array of online slot machines and online slots tournaments available at online casinos today. The term “one-armed bandit” will always remain with us, but his arm is slowly becoming history as technology progresses and more and more people play slots online. Slot machine history marches on.

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