Collectors craving rare coin-operated games converge at Las Vegas auction — PHOTOS

“If it took a coin, we’re looking for it,” said Louise Tolworthy, a resident of Westchester County, New York.

Coin-op collectors from the East and West coasts and parts in between converged this weekend in Las Vegas at Morphy Auctions to get their hands on rare, fresh-to-the-market, early gambling and coin-operated machines.

“The guy who had collected this had been collecting for many years, and he passed away,” said 69-year-old George Stupar, a coin-op collector whose personal collection is in Los Angeles. “This stuff hasn’t been seen for a long, long time. And whenever something like this surfaces, it brings some people out to it.”

A 1 cent artillery duel, two-player gun game in working condition, sold for $260,000.

A 5 cent Caille Peerless Roulette, circa 1904, one of only several remaining originals, sold for $140,000 — $10,000 shy of its $150,000 minimum estimate.

And a favorite of Dan Morphy’s — the Caille 5 cent Twin Centaur upright slot machine, circa 1908 — sold for $85,000.

“It’s two slots, side-by-side,” said Morphy, the president and CEO of Morphy Auctions. “To me, that’s Vegas, through and through. It’s a machine that has great eye appeal. It has really great casting work, it’s nickel-plated, and it’s sexy.”

Morphy Auctions, founded by Morphy in 1997, is a fixture along North Reading Road in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an area known as the antiques mecca of the country.

About 20 antique stores and co-ops are concentrated along that stretch of road, next to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. So hosting auctions year-round at that location makes sense. But so did moving into an auction house along Arville Street in Las Vegas — especially when selling early gambling and coin-operated machines.

“When it comes to coin-op or early antique gambling, there’s a tie-in to Vegas with the Gold Rush and early saloon days,” Morphy said. “Because of that, collectors of early gambling are concentrated in the western part of the country. A lot of guys are in California, Oregon, and these pieces were indicative of what went on in the early days.”

That’s why Morphy Auctions reserves its coin-op auction solely for its Las Vegas location.

However, the distance doesn’t stop avid East Coast collectors from making the journey.

“If you have it, they will come,” said Jennifer Belz, spokeswoman for Morphy Auctions. “Some of the items have been in collections for 20, 30, or 40 years. And people are going to come out to see them because they may never see them again.”

Tolworthy said she journeyed to Las Vegas with her husband because of the “quality of the merchandise and the rarity” of some of the items.

“We have an approximate 9,000-square-foot house full of stuff,” she said. “It’s all over the house.”

Her answer when asked if she had a favorite item: “everything.”

“If I’m talking about it at that moment, that’s my favorite,” she said. “Looking back at the stuff we have, to me it’s more like art now — things aren’t made like this anymore.”

She and her husband, Tom Tolworthy, 61, said the item with the highest price tag they’ve purchased is in the six figures.

“We cater to everyone, but, we also cater to the very particular collector who’s looking for investment-grade items,” said Don Grimmer, vice president, Morphy Auctions, Las Vegas.

On Saturday morning, Stupar said he had his eye on a 1912 Watling floor-model, gum-vendor slot machine, in all original finish and condition. The machine sold for $25,000, $5,000 above the high estimate of $20,000.

“Rarity and desirability” are the two components that drive up the price of an item, Stupar said.

“Another person other than you has to like it,” he said. “At the auction, once they pass a certain point, it’s between two people. The majority of the pack will drop out. It will be two lone guys, hammering against each other. Finally, whoever holds their hand up the longest ends up with it.”

While Stupar bid on the antique, it went to a collector out of Denver, Colorado, who built his “Victorian Vice” collection around the vices of times past, including cigars, liquor, beer, gambling and saloons.

“It’s very original — all the parts and pieces are there, and appear to be original,” the collector, who gave only his first name Bill, said of the machine.

Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Find @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.