A stunning single-owner collection of antique and vintage amusement arcade machines is set to dispel the winter blues at Hansons.
Some 150 examples from the 19th and 20th centuries will be offered on January 21, 2025 at the firm’s Derbyshire saleroom in Etwall.
Click here to view the The MacDonald Single Owner Collection of Vintage Amusement and Coin Operated Machines.
Among the most fascinating is a machine which offers a reminder of the film Big starring Tom Hanks. Remember the spooky fairground scene with the Zoltar fortune teller machine? Well, lot 22 is an extremely rare, circa 1890 coin-operated fortune telling machine called The Sorcerer. There’s no key to wind the clockwork mechanism but it appears to be in working order. Made by John Dennison, of Leeds, it’s guided at £1,000-£1,500.
The Sorcerer will answer your question for one penny, such as, ‘Do I already know the person I shall marry?’; ‘How often shall I marry?’; ‘What does my dream signify?’ and, rather scarily, ‘Myself in 20 years’. Imagine impressing the neighbours with that?
Then there’s the 1937 one-arm bandit believed to originate from the Queen Mary cruise liner. It sailed the seas from 1936 to 1967 for Cunard. Made by the Pace Manufacturing Company, the Royal Comet Club Console needs attention as the mechanism is temperamental. However, it could be yours for around £1,000-£1,500.
And who can resist those penny-in-the-slot machines with a crane-style hand to dip down and attempt to grasp a multitude of treasures below? A 1960s gem from the USA is an Exhibit Supply Company, Chicago, Illnois, Novelty Merchantman crane, lot 52, £1,500-£2,000.
Collections like this are aften inspired by childhood seaside delight. That’s precisely what led Birmingham’s Ken Jackson, 89, and his son, Stewart, 49, to rescue and restore 82 amusement arcade machines over 34 years. The collection showcased the history of amusement machines from the invention of the slot machine in the 1890s through to the 1970s, and included a relic from Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It achieved a premium-inclusive £80,000 at Hansons in May 2024
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CATALOGUE
January sales
On January 23, Hansons’ first Specialist Toy Auction of 2025 brings a plethora of riches too. Top lots include an early 20th century Société Française de Fabrication de Bébé and Jouets Jumeau bisque-head doll, £400-£600, and four Marklin Digital HO Gauge boxed locomotive and coaches, ‘The Imperial Court Train of Kaiser Wilhelm II’, £250-£350.
Auction entries invited
Hansons invites entries for all 2025 sales including toys, antiques, Fine Art, coins, militaria, jewellery, silver and more. Email [email protected]
Hansons’ salerooms close for Christmas at 5pm on December 23 and reopen at 9am on January 2, 2025.
