Michael McMenamin Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Hi guys. Came across this one speed GE coin-op. The owner is a friend of my daughter's father-in-law. Trying to determine the age and a value for him in its' current condition. It runs but is missing the internal counter and bank plate as far as I can tell. The patent date on the info plate shows Feb. 7. '05 and Dec. 5. '05. The coin-op dial turns freely but could not get nickel to drop in. Seemed to be blocked. The blades seem to be brass, non magnetic. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Landry Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 5 hours ago, Michael McMenamin said: Hi guys. Came across this one speed GE coin-op. The owner is a friend of my daughter's father-in-law. Trying to determine the age and a value for him in its' current condition. It runs but is missing the internal counter and bank plate as far as I can tell. The patent date on the info plate shows Feb. 7. '05 and Dec. 5. '05. The coin-op dial turns freely but could not get nickel to drop in. Seemed to be blocked. The blades seem to be brass, non magnetic. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. ...with any luck, there might just be a 1913 Liberty head nickel jammed in the mechanism! (Used to have one of those! :( What a nice looking fan!!!!! :) hope you get it back to its former glory!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael McMenamin Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 1 hour ago, James Landry said: ...with any luck, there might just be a 1913 Liberty head nickel jammed in the mechanism! (Used to have one of those! 😞 What a nice looking fan!!!!! 🙂 hope you get it back to its former glory!!!!! Hopefully it's not a wooden nickel!!! Lol. Just trying to find out what parts may be needed to restore. Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave McManaman Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 (edited) I believe these are late teens to early twenties. As you noted, it looks like its missing the vault door, lock, and counter mechanism at the very least. I’ve never owned one but have followed a lot of examples where a coin op was missing parts. Kim Frank’s an expert on these but I suspect there’s no way of knowing what all is missing without opening it up. I’d be hesitant in doing that because they have lots of parts (hopefully) and have to go back together in a certain order. Here’s a cutaway of a GECoin op from Tim Marks’ “White Glove Fans” website. http://whiteglovefans.com/blog/2014/2/13/old-catalog-pictures-of-ge-coin-operated-fan Edited January 6 by Dave McManaman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael McMenamin Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 7 hours ago, Dave McManaman said: I believe these are late teens to early twenties. As you noted, it looks like its missing the vault door, lock, and counter mechanism at the very least. I’ve never owned one but have followed a lot of examples where a coin op was missing parts. Kim Frank’s an expert on these but I suspect there’s no way of knowing what all is missing without opening it up. I’d be hesitant in doing that because they have lots of parts (hopefully) and have to go back together in a certain order. Here’s a cutaway of a GECoin op from Tim Marks’ “White Glove Fans” website. http://whiteglovefans.com/blog/2014/2/13/old-catalog-pictures-of-ge-coin-operated-fan Dave, thanks for the link. It does look like a lot of parts looking at the cutaway and diagram. On closer look I see a long crack across the left side of the base. Hopefully it can be repaired. I'll try Kim to see what he thinks about these parts and condition issues. Thanks again. 18 hours ago, James Landry said: ...with any luck, there might just be a 1913 Liberty head nickel jammed in the mechanism! (Used to have one of those! 😞 What a nice looking fan!!!!! 🙂 hope you get it back to its former glory!!!!! Hopefully it's not a wooden nickel!!! Lol. Just trying to find out what parts may be needed to restore. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Frank Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 (edited) The counter is missing and replacements for those are nonexistent. Fortunately, it doesn't affect the operation of the fan timing, as it's only purpose is to count nickels. The bank vault door is gone. I can't tell if the front transmission is present or not. Easy way to tell is looking at the fan as it's facing to the left, just below where the front shaft comes out of the bearing housing, is a 3/8" hex nut. If that's present, good bet the transmission is too. If there's just a hole, it's gone. The coin ops are very desirable to collectors. A complete and operational one speed coin op will sell for over $2000. The three speed model will go for over $3K. Usually on fans like yours, they've been messed with and the continuity switch bypassed so as to run the fan without spending 5 cents. Doing this strips three teeth on the timing gear, rendering it useless afterwards. The pawl assembly can also break. Luckily, all of these parts are reproduced. While not cheap, there's usually a lot of wiggle room when it comes to making them operational. Several reasons why a nickel won't feed. If someone puts nickels in it over time, the continuity worm may be back so far as not to accept another nickel. It's possible the worm may have rotated a bit misaligning the slots, or maybe something is in the slot already. I have worked on over three hundred of these fans and have a bag of stuff I've pulled out of these things, from washers and slugs, to bus and streetcar tokens to Liberty and Buffalo nickels. The first coin ops were oscillating. Five known to exist and the guts to a sixth. Only made for a very short time in 1915. The three speed stationary coin op was made from 1915-17. In 1917 operations were moved from Vincennes Indiana to Memphis Tn and the one speed coin ops were introduced. You'll find these models in a/c, a/c marked as d/c, 110 and 220 d/c, and 120v 40 cycle brushed motor. The latter two have same value as a three speed. Here are some pics of a one speed and three speed disassembled, along with the continuity worm and timing gear housings for both models. The fans come apart in a sequence and must go back together the same way. Easy to damage stuff if not experienced with these fans. Edited January 15 by Kim Frank 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Frank Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Here is the Oscillating three speed coin op. Completely gone thru but not restored. Cast iron is sealed. The other four known examples are restored to shiny black paint and polished brass. This fan is completely different from the later models. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael McMenamin Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Thanks Kim for the info. I only saw the coin-op and the green three speed for a short time and took a limited number of pictures. The owner let my daughter's father-in-law bring them with him on one of his visits. We are in central NJ and he lives in Maryland, about 150 miles from here, so I'm not able to check for the 3/8" hex nut. I hope to visit the Fan Museum in the Spring with my Peerless and if he will let me, bring his two fans along for a quick look see, if you're ok with that. May find something to add to your bag of stuff. Your three speed oscillating fan pics look great. I am a fan, no pun intended, of the unrestored look. Thanks again for the great pics and info. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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