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A car vending machine opened on the north side of Indy this week, and left some wondering how the thing works (and if it's legit). Here's what we know about the Carvana vending machine at 8130.

• The Slot Machine is similar to the Beggar in that the results are random. Using the Tarot Card 'X Wheel of Fortune' will spawn a Slot Machine in the current room. Walking up to the machine and bumping it will cost you one Penny, and roll the slots. You have no control over the results. It is possible to find Bombs (regular, troll, or 1+1 free), Hearts (half heart, full heart, soul heart.
• To pick-up a purchased vehicle at a Carvana Car Vending Machine, the customer simply drops their custom coin (which they receive upon arrival) into the Car Vending Machine’s coin slot, which then illuminates the coin receptacle and activates the automated vehicle delivery system.

A slug is a counterfeit coin that is used to make illegal purchases from a coin-operated device, such as a vending machine, payphone, parking meter, transit farebox, copy machine, coin laundry, gaming machine, or arcade game.^[1] By resembling various features of a genuine coin, including the weight, size, and shape, a slug is designed to trick the machine into accepting it as a real coin.

Losses caused to vendors by slug usage may be the result of the loss of sales, the absence of revenue following the distribution of merchandise that was obtained at the vendor's expense, or the loss of cash that is distributed by the machine for overpayment with slugs. Honest customers may also suffer losses when change returned for overpayment is in the form of a slug rather than a genuine coin.

Though slug usage is illegal in the United States and elsewhere,^[2] prosecution for slug usage is rare due to the low value of the theft and the difficulty in identifying the offender. Offenders in casinos are most likely to be prosecuted,^{[example needed]} as casinos have high levels of video surveillance and other security measures, and tend to be more proactive in enforcement.^{[citation needed]}

Use of other currencies[edit]

In some cases, a slug can be a genuine coin used in another country, with or without knowledge of the user. One example was the interchangeable use of Australian and New Zealand 5c, 10c and 20c pieces in both countries, from 1967 until 2006 (when New Zealand coins were redesigned). These coins were of the same material and size with near identical obverses, so could circulate outside their home country for some time, although the New Zealand coins were worth about 20% less, potentially resulting in a small gain (to those passing them) in Australia and a similar loss in New Zealand.

What Is The Slot On The Vending Machine Called The Best

The Canadian quarter was also accepted by at least some US vending machines interchangeably with the US quarter until at least 2001. The usefulness of this to offenders varied greatly over time; during the 1970s and 1980s, the Canadian and US quarters were very similar in value.

The 10 Syrian pound coin is often used as a slug in Norway, as the shape and weight of this coin strongly resembles the 20 Norwegian krone coin. While not easy to find in Norway, the Syrian coins are still used in automated machines there with such frequency that Posten Norge, the Norwegian postal service, decided to close many of their coins-to-cash machines on February 18, 2006, with plans to develop a system able to differentiate between the two coins. In the summer of 2005, a Norwegian man was sentenced to 30 days, suspended, for having used Syrian coins in arcade machines in the municipality of Bærum.^[3]

In the UK, during the late 1990s some coin-operated slot machines would accept two 1-schilling coins glued together as if they were a £1 coin. The two original coins had a net value of under 10p at the current exchange rate. Coin detectors were soon reprogrammed to detect and reject the Austrian Schilling. Not long after it was possible to buy on the Internet a bag of 100 washers for under £20 that had been deliberately made to fool the machines into accepting them as £1 coins. Coin detectors were again reprogrammed to reject those slugs as well.

What Is The Slot On The Vending Machine Called One

The Irish pound coin in use from 1990 to 2002 was the same size as the old pre-decimal penny, so vending machines had to be modified to differentiate them. Many machines simply had the pound slot disabled with a riveted plate.

Many coin-operated machines in Germany would accept the 1992, 1993 and 1995 stampings of the cupronickel Estonian 1 kroon coin as a German 1 mark coin. This was profitable for users of the Estonian coins as the kroon was pegged to the mark at a fixed rate of 8:1. All cupronickel 1 kroon coins were demonetized in May 1998 and the replacement aluminium-bronze Estonian 1 kroon coin was not interchangeable with the German mark in coin-operated machines.

The use of 100 South Korean won coins for the slug of 100 Japanese yen coins and cupronickel 20 sen (RM 0.20) pieces still commonly occurs, contributing to the conflict between Japanese and South Korean citizens.^[4] Similarly, until 2000, the South Korean 500 won coin could be modified to match the weight of the original 500 yen coin which was otherwise identical in diameter and composition, and thereby used to fool weight-sensitive vending machines.^[5][6]

From the fall of the Soviet Union to the monetary reform in 1998, the Russian Federation often issued a commemorative one-ruble coin that was identical in size and weight to a 5 Swiss franc coin. For this reason, there have been several instances of these (worthless) ruble coins being used on a large scale to defraud automated vending machines in Switzerland.^[7]

In the US, Connecticut Turnpike tokens had a value of 17.5 cents in the early 1980s, but due to having a similar design as New York City subway tokens worth 75 cents it became common for commuters to use the Turnpike tokens on the subway. The matter went unresolved for three years; users were not prosecuted, but when Connecticut discontinued tolls on the Turnpike, they agreed to redeem the roughly two million tokens from the MTA at face value.

In 1988, Thailand started minting a bimetallicten baht coin that is quite similar to the 2 Euro coin (first issue in 2002) in weight, size and appearance. Because it is worth substantially less, it has been used to fool cashiers and automated vending machines since the very first days of the 2 Euro coin circulation.^[8][9]

In the United Arab Emirates on August 2006, it became publicly known that the Philippines' ₱1 coin has the same size as the 1 United Arab Emirates dirham coin.^[10] With one dirham having a value nearly 14 times that of one Philippine peso, this has led to vending machine fraud in the United Arab Emirates. Similar frauds have also occurred in the US, as the 1-peso coin (worth about two U.S. cents) is roughly the same size as the quarter. Newer digital parking meters are not affected by the fraud, though most vending machines will accept them as quarters.

Composition comparison[edit]

What Is The Slot On The Vending Machine Called Money

Slugs are usually made from metals differing from those of real coins. While genuine US coinage is made from various alloys of copper, nickel, and zinc, Canadian coins are made mostly from steel with some copper and nickel, and euro coins are made from steel, nickel, and brass, slugs are frequently made from differing metals and alloys that are cheaper to obtain and mold, such as aluminum, tin, and lead.

Slugs may or may not have the face details of real coins. Some slugs that are made to match the face details may not be immediately recognizable as such to handlers, and may enter circulation.

Older, cheaper, and other low-tech machines that have fewer security measures are more likely to be defrauded by slug users. As an example, the full-mechanical mechanisms still used today in candy machines can be fooled by a cardboard coin. Many newer machines, especially those found in casinos, have additional detection that can identify more details of coins and detect those that do not resemble real coins.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Indiana Code Title 35. Criminal Law and Procedure §IC 35-43-5'(PDF). in.gov. Indiana General Assembly. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 21, 2008.
2. ^'8 U.S.C. § 486 – Uttering Coins of Gold, Silver or Other Metal: 'Whoever, except as authorized by law, makes or utters or passes, or attempts to utter or pass, any coins of gold or silver or other metal, or alloys of metals, intended for use as current money, whether in the resemblance of coins of the United States or of foreign countries, or of original design, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.' Note that 18 U.S.C. § 491 also addresses the creation of coins, but this particular code section prohibits the creation of coins or the use of similar metal objects for the purpose of inserting into parking meters, vending machines, and similar venues'. communitycurencies.org. U.S.C. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
3. ^Andersen, Øystein (February 18, 2006). 'Myntsvindlere herjer i Oslo'. Dagbladet (in Norwegian). DB Medialab AS. Retrieved March 8, 2008.
4. ^박상은 기자 [Park Sang Eun] (August 11, 2015). ''100엔 대신 100원 넣는 한국인 조심해요' 日 트윗 확산' ['Watch out for Koreans putting 100 won instead of 100 yen']. 국민일보 [Kukmin Ilbo] (in Korean). Retrieved July 13, 2017.
5. ^The Contemporary 'Won' Coins of the Republic of Korea (1966 – Present) Dokdo Research (dokdo-research.com). Retrieved on 2017-05-05.
6. ^Metropolis [Tokyo] Money Talks: Short Changed
7. ^'Mit alten Rubelmünzen Automaten am Zürcher HB geplündert' (in German). Swissinfo. 15 November 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
8. ^admin. 'Europe has been talking about the 10 baht/2 Euro problem for some time | 2Bangkok.com'. 2bangkok.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
9. ^'Euro-Bargeld: Thai-Münzen überlisten Automaten'. Spiegel Online. 2001-11-26. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
10. ^Menon, Sunita (August 1, 2006). 'Hey presto! A Peso's as good as a Dirham'. gulfnews.com. Retrieved February 6, 2015.

The history of the slot machine industry in the United States, like many activities operated by organized crime syndicates, is a story of shrewd entrepreneurism and opportunism functioning amidst a weak and corrupt state. While organized crime in America has made its mark most memorably on industries like alcohol, drugs, sanitation and construction, the slot machine industry also embodies the fundamental nature of mafia racketeering. Not only was the supply side dominated by a monopoly, but the demand side was also rigged, targeting populations least able to afford such vices. All the major figures of mafia operation were involved–Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Vito Genovese–enabling the slot machine industry to develop into a national activity that relied on interstate commerce and local support.

With slot machines–more than 25,000 of them in New York City alone in the early 1930’s–placed in prosaic locations, the general populace was both knowingly and unknowingly touched by the mafia. The eventual regulation of slot machines focused on a containment strategy thereby removing slots from the collective memory of everyday urban life. However, the rise of electronic slot machines in the 1990s, with links again to organized crime, and the 2004 opening of the Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York, featuring the controversial “VLT’s” or Video Lottery Terminals, reintroduced gambling into the urban fabric of New York City, making this historical inquiry timely.

The Slot Machine: An American Invention

The first slot machine was invented in Brooklyn in 1891 by Sittman & Pitt as an added novelty to the typical bar amusements. The machines were rigged from the beginning, garnering the name “drop-card machines” because cards were strategically removed from the deck, usually a ten of spades and jack of hearts, to reduce the probability of getting a royal flush. The machines accepted the nickel to start the game but could not provide cash payouts so bartenders would offer beer or cigars to winners. The machines also did not allow for players to discard cards and draw new ones yet due to technological limitations. According to Jack Harper, author of King of Slots: William “Si” Redd, the game was enormously popular in spite of the technical drawbacks of Sittman & Pitt’s machine and that “one would be hard pressed to find a bar in New York City that didn’t have at least one poker machine besides the bar.” The trend would not remain contained on the East Coast for long.

West coast entrepreneurs like Charles Fey in San Francisco would shore up the technical and aesthetic ends, creating a more lifelike experience with real cards (as opposed to drawings of the cards on the reels) and automatic payout on slot machines. San Francisco was ripe for the proliferation of slot machines due to a particularly feral environment of corrupt politics amidst a proliferation of alcohol establishments. Fey’s grandson, Marshall Fey wrote that “the sheer number of business selling spirits combined with disreputable city politics made the wide open city a natural locus for nickel-in-the-slot machines.”

Fey would go on to create the more popular Liberty Bell in 1895, also known as the “one armed bandit,” and slot machines would migrate to the mining towns in Nevada with unparalleled success. A movement to ban slot machines followed shortly thereafter starting in San Francisco, then making its way through California and Nevada, and the creative response by bar owners, slot machine operators and distributors would have a lasting effect on the gambling industry, still apparent today. According to Daniels Antiques, which sells vintage slot machines made by firms in Chicago:

It didn’t take long for the slot machines to get banned somewhere around the turn of the century in fact, but the owners were not going to take the ban sitting down and they “fired back” by changing the coin slot machines to offer candy, gum, or tokens, and so they decorated the wheels on the slot machines with pictures of gum or different fruits i.e.. cherries.

This type of visual “disguise” enabled the machines to be placed out in the public where children also played them. Sometimes the opposite would occur–machines built as children’s toys, like The Erie Digger, a penny candy vendor, would be retrofitted as a gambling device. The mass inculcation of slot machines had thus reached the youth population–a moral concern that continues to surfaces regularly, the most recent incarnation in the slot machines for children at Trump Taj Mahal and Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City that dispense tickets that are exchanged for toys and candy. In 1998, Virginia representative Frank R. Wolf raised concern over family-oriented casinos and cited a New York Times article that revealed, “Video arcades for children along the Boardwalk in Atlantic City include reconditioned slot machines that work just like the real thing but offer prizes instead of money.”

The proliferation of slot machine producers was inevitable given their financial and popular success, but it would be something Charles Fey would desperately try to fight. He refused to license his proprietary technology or give up the monopolistic control his company had over the production of slot machines. Nonetheless, enterprising new companies joined the market. The successful Mills Novelty Company, which put out the Mills Liberty Bell slot machine in 1906, used assembly line production techniques and mass marketing. Herbert Stephen Mills, head of the company, became known as the “Henry Ford of slot machines.” The Mills Novelty Company would become the preferred (and perhaps only) producer for Frank Costello’s slot machine racket in both New York City and New Orleans.

Daniels Antiques claims that “the greatest energy in the design of slot machines was between the great wars in the period 1920-1940. It was in this time period that the most significant design improvements came about.” Such improvements were not only technical–including “skill-stop buttons” for a player to stop the reel instantly, gold coins for luxury gifts and mystery payouts–but also aesthetic. This further enabled the concurrent growth of the slot machine supply industry with the voracious popular consumption of gambling entertainment. The development of the Bakers Races and Paces Races slot machines in the 1930s introduced the connection between horse racing and slots–the machines were also some of the first machines to be powered by electricity.

What Daniels Antiques does not mention are the creative mechanical manipulations that were invented during this time period to evade the authorities and ensure greater payout for distributors. Not coincidentally, organized crime also became involved in the production of slot machines in the 1920s and 1930s (in addition to distribution), as exemplified by the business activities of Joseph Aiuppa, a member of Al Capone’s Chicago Outfit. As reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Aiuppa was a partner in Taylor & Co., a furniture company that served as a front for the production and distribution of slot machines. The company most notably altered one-armed bandit machines to circumvent the Federal statute that prohibited interstate trafficking of gambling devices. The machine, marked The Trade Booster, changed the standard coin-operated slot to an electrical slot operated via cable by the bartender. Aiuppa was convicted in 1960 for “failing to register as a dealer in gambling devices.”

Frank Costello, known as the “King of Slots” and a member of Lucky Luciano’s gang, also made some creative alterations to evade the authorities in New York City:

Costello added a gimmick to avoid legal problems. When the player dropped a nickel and pulled the handle, a candy mint dropped out, turning the slot machine into a sort of vending machine. If three identical objects showed on the machine, fake coins called slugs would be ejected. These could then be exchanged or cash. [Jerry Capeci]

With control over the production and distribution of slot machines, rigged payouts made the entire business a no-brainer. According to John Scarne, an author on gaming and gambling:

Slot machines built during the thirties usually had a payback of about 50% when they weren’t bugged. When half the money you feed in its retained, it doesn’t take long before the machine had it all. And when the bug was used, you lost even faster. It was this type of machine that was called the one-armed bandit. [John Scarne]

In the next installment, we will explore the inter-state operations of Costello, who reportedly operated the largest, network of slot machines in New York, if not the United States, and New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia’s mission to run him out of town.

Get in touch with the author @untappedmich.