Coin-OperatedMetal Stampers |
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Metal Stampers have been a popular arcade attraction for well over a century. First introduced in the early 1900's by the Heene Automatic Stamping Machine Company, out of Phoenix, Arizona. The Roover Manufacturing Company (pictured above right) soon produced there version of the machine, which stamped out a metal strip with what ever the user wanted printed on it. Eventually the Heene Automatic Stamping Machine Company became the Harvard Automatic Machine Company, moving to Cleveland, on Harvard Street, where they got their name. Metal Stampers are coin operated machines in the arcade machine sub-category. The function of arcade machines is to amuse and entertain. "They are not gambling machines in the same sense as automatic payout slot machines, or even trade stimulators or counter games with which you can get a multiplied return on your investment if you are lucky. Arcade machines are not luck machines, although they often require a certain degree of skill to play. They generally deliver nothing more or less than what they say they do. You get exactly what you pay for." These stamping machines allow the user to make a personalized strip of metal or a personalized medal souvenir. Many of the machines have either a large dial that turns or a hand that turns to any of the characters available. Generally they would have all of the alphabet, 0-9, a few other characters, and the all important space. These machines would have two handles, one for stamping each letter, and one to pull when the user was finished. Just don't confuse the two. The basic directions for the machines would be to insert a penny, or however much it costs, then turn the dial or hand to the character desired and pull the "stamp" handle once for each letter. When finished pull the "finish" handle and their personalized name plate or medal would drop out the return chute. Antique Warehouse currently has three metal stampers in its collection. Each from different eras of the metal stamping history. The oldest was manufactured in the early part of the 1900 century and prints its souvenirs onto metal strips. The next model is from the medal era, which has become the standard even through today. The third model is more recent, from the 50's, also stamping onto a medal token. Click on any of the images below to find out more about each of our models. |
Bueschel, Richard M. Coin Machines. Schiffer Publishing, 1995. Rubin, Ken & Fran. Drop Coin Here. K&F Publishing, 1979.
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