Morphy Auctions Las Vegas – Coin-Op & Advertising
April 30-May 1, 2 & 3, 2025
4520 Arville Sreet Las Vegas, NV 89103 | 877-968-8880
morphyauctions.com

LAS VEGAS — Four days of bidding opportunities are on the agenda for Morphy Auctions’ April 30-May 3 Coin-Op & Antique Advertising auction. Nearly 2,000 lots will take the spotlight, including music, arcade and gambling machines, plus a bumper crop of antique and vintage signage touting everything from tobacco and alcoholic beverages to the various goods that would have been sold at general stores more than 100 years ago. Those who cannot attend in person can join the fun by bidding absentee, by phone or live online through Morphy’s bidding platform.

The selection of rarities is led by a circa 1904 Mills Novelty Coompany “Lion Lung Tester” that stands 103 inches tall. This machine, which is dominated by a carved lion with a fearsome expression and mouth agape, is so iconic it was chosen for the front cover of the inaugural issue (March 2001) of the Coin Operated Collectors Association’s COCA Times magazine. When a penny is deposited, the giant cat’s eyes illuminate, and when a patron blows into the tester, the beast emits a roar. A continuously running clock displays how many seconds a given player can keep the lion roaring, hence a measurement of how strong their lungs are. The auction example is one of only two known machines of its type and has a line of documented ownership that goes back more than 50 years. It will make its auction debut with a $150/300,000 estimate.

Another top prize is a rare circa 1905 Ray-O-Lite 1-cent rifle arcade machine made by the Automatic Target Machine Company. This improved model operates like the earlier lollipop-style iteration with a cast-iron target pedestal and bull’s-eye target, but the difference is that it employs a dry cell battery. The updated cabinet model has eight added target features that are unique to its design, and its reverse-painted sign illuminates if the target is missed. The auction entry is a fresh-to-the-market find that surfaced after Morphy’s sold another example in December 2024. In working order, the rifle arcade machine is expected to reach the $75/150,000 range.

Morphy’s will offer, a circa 1929-1931 Amusement Machine Company 1927 Play Baseball floor-model game. Known as Model H, this classic machine comes with figural cast-iron players on the field and its original lithographed cardboard stadium simulating a full crowd at the ballpark. This machine has its original keys, a replaced marquee and top sign ($40/60,000).

A rare circa 1931 International Mutoscope Shootomatic Merchandise Vender 5-cent arcade prize-dispensing game is a variation on a “digger” machine. It has been extensively restored, with a quartered-oak cabinet and new plating to its mechanical components. Standing 65½ inches tall, it is fully operational and comes with a selection of prizes, plus keys ($20/40,000).

Also rare, a circa 1900 Mills Novelty Company Violano Virtuoso is one of fewer than 20 of its type known to exist. Presented in its quartered-oak cabinet with “tiger” striping and Art Nouveau bow-front window, this unit was fully restored at some point in its past. All keys and six musical rolls accompany the machine ($60/130,000).

Ultra-rare and eye-catching, a single-reel token trade stimulator known as “The Eagle” was made around 1905, possibly by the Mills Novelty Company for the Sundwall Company of Seattle, Wash. Its castings, with the exception of the top portion, are the same as are seen on Mills’ Pilot. The top casting includes a two-headed eagle and the embossed words “The Eagle.” The machine retains its original marquee, reel strip, award cards and back door with lock. This is the first time an example of this machine has appeared in a Morphy auction ($30/60,000).

Slot machines are led by a rare circa 1939 Jennings Silver Dollar Chief $1 model. Its bas-relief metal appliques depict a Native American man in profile and two braves in the wild, one of them a scout; the other carrying a deer. With all-original paint, reel strips, award cards, back door and cash box, it is offered with an $8/16,000 estimate.

The product that would single-handedly launch the pop art movement, Campbell’s Tomato Soup is immortalized in the form of a 12-inch-high, single-sided porcelain thermometer that has survived many decades.. A working thermometer gauge at the soup can’s middle reads “On so many days — Soup is just the thing!” This all-American advertising piece has a pre-sale estimate of $20/30,000.

A circa 1900 single-sided self-framed tin sign advertises Yuengling’s Beer, Ale & Porter, products of a Pottsville, Penn., brewery. With a majestic eagle graphic at its center, this sign measures 23½ inches in diameter and is estimated at $7/14,000.

Another stellar entry manufactured around 1900 is a single-sided tin sign advertising Old Sleepy Eye Flour (Sleepy Eye, Minn.). In an oval cartouche at its center is a graphic of Chief Sleepy Eye of the Sisseton Dakota tribe. Additional vignettes around the perimeter depict various Native American scenes. Measuring 29½ by 25½ inches and marked “The Meek Company,” this sign has a $6/12,000 estimate.

Morphy’s satellite gallery is at 4520 Arville Street, #1. Start time for the auction is 9 am Pacific time (12 noon Eastern time). Preview weekdays by appointment from 9 am-4 pm local time starting one week before the auction; or on auction days from 8-9 am.

For information, 877-968-8880 or www.morphyauctions.com.