Peacemorgan Dollars In Slot Machines
The switch from silver dollars to $1 gaming tokens began in the mid-to-late 60’s when the government changed to clad coinage. The well-known Binion and Fitzgerald Hoards were the accumulations of all of the silver dollars that were removed from the machines at that time and then stored away only to be (nearly) forgotten. The Fitzgerald Hoard wasn’t discovered until several years ago when the heirs sold some of his warehouses in the Reno area. The new owner found bags and bags and bags piled up in a basement, and they contained not only silver dollars but many vintage casino chips as well.
However, there were still many slot machines in use that dispensed 1c, 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c and even $1 coins. The Riviera Hotel & Casino had one machine with a jackpot of $100,000 in silver dollars until about 6 or 7 years ago. All of the silver dollars were housed in a glass case atop the machine. I used to play it whenever I was there. All of the coins that you could see were mostly Morgan and some Peace dollars.
The (cashless) ticket in/ticket out technology was developed in Australia at the same time that the Aussies came up with the idea of muilti-line video slots. The first machines were penny slots, but the other denominations soon followed. The new technology is and has been a huge success. Most people disliked the idea of having to lug big, heavy tubs of coins to the cashiers’ window, not to mention the fact that your hands would turn black from scooping the coins out of the tray. As for the appeal of hearing the coins come out of the machine, the slot manufacturers synthesized that sound so you can still hear the “jingle” when you cash out.
I know of one casino in Reno, Cal-Neva, that still has a few slot machines that pay out silver dollars. It costs 25c to play, and if the “silver dollar” symbol comes up on the payline, it dispenses a real silver dollar. The only problem is that they are quickly running out of Morgan and Peace dollars and they are being replaced by American Eagles.
Chris