Auction Company Expands to Coin-Op Machiness

Long before video games, amusement-seeking folks gravitated toward coin-operated machines. Years later, some of those antiques are worth more coin than could ever have fit inside them.

Sports memorabilia specialist Grey Flannel Auctions has become a big fan of the coin-op machines; big enough to open a new segment of their business devoted to them.

“It is a full-time, dedicated division that deals with unique antique amusements, primarily coin-operated machines of all types, and with the addition of antique advertising and celebrity memorabilia,” said Richard E. Russek, president of Grey Flannel Auctions.

The new department is headed by Robert M. Adams III, a court-certified appraiser and consultant who has assisted collectors, auction houses and estate executors for more than 40 years. Adams will be in charge of organizing a special coin-ops section for two of Grey Flannel’s regular sales each year – their May and December events. An initial offering of more than 250 lots of coin-op and related items will be included in the company’s May 14 auction. A featured highlight is a collection of rare coin-operated machines that were displayed at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.

“We are known for our unwavering commitment to authentication. It has earned us the reputation as ‘the standard of the industry,’” said Richard Russek. “It is a great honor to be the official appraisers and authenticators for both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association. We use the same stringent guidelines in authenticating and confirming the provenance of celebrity memorabilia, antique advertising, and coin ops, including the Seattle World’s Fair machines that we’ll soon be auctioning.”

Grey Flannel will have a selection of antiuque coin-operated machines in its next auction catalog, scheduled for May 14.