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About a week ago, I posted two oak gumballs I picked up where the seller lost the keys over the years. He sold them to me with the coins still inside. He said he bought them, with the keys, in the 90s from an antique shop so I figured they would have pennies and nickels from when he bought them to when he sold them to me. They did, but also some from the 40s-80s

Came across some pre-64 nickels and some wheat pennies (a 44 copper not a 43) and was wondering what valuable coins anyone here ever found in machines they bought?

I've been tossing mine in a can... Ok, it's a small can. So far, 3 silver dimes would be the most valuable, but the buffalo nickels are neat because I can read the dates. Normally when I see them, they are worn off.

Too bad the condition sucks on all of them!!

This doesn't include the Fat Albert Thermos I found inside of an 81D that was full of pocket change from the 1970's and 1980's... That got rolled!

I'm still waiting to find this in a machine....

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/25/us/california-gold-discovery/

1,400 gold coins..... oh wait, that was something else in California.

I found a few mercury dimes in a few machines.  Usually, the coin box is plucked clean by the owner.  The dimes I found were laminated in grease, and only a thorough cleaning would uncover them.

I found a Mercury dime in the bottom of my C-27, but nothing else that I can remember.

Mercury dimes are the best coins I have found.

I found a a few quarters in the old Choice Vend I used to have. The Cavalier didn't have any money in it, IIRC.

Generally, I don't count on there being money in a machine when checking one out. If the machine is unlocked, it's a very good bet
the previous owner cleaned it out. If it's locked with no key, I'm of the opinion that in the majority of cases any coins that are still in
it would total up to less than the value of any parts that might be missing from the inside.

but you never know.  :oh:

I found a mercury dime in my Popcorn Sez machine and a 1942 nickel in my Stoner candy machine.

I just remembered another one worth mentioning.  The Mercury strength testers use their back door as a coin box.  I remember buying one and when I picked it up, I tilted the machine back and I can here non stop pennies sliding.  When I got it home and took the door off, there was half of a five gallon bucket full of pennies in there.  I wish it were mercury dimes.  :biggrin:

It rattled everytime I moved it, but once I unrusted the coin collection cup in my Stoner I got a handful of mercury dimes

I found a 41 wheat penny in the drain of a 40 Westinghouse master. It was slightly bent, figured it had gotten logged in there and some one tried to knock it on through. Interesting topic.  8) 

Thank you all for sharing your finds.

Found some mercury dimes behind the coin benzel on my vendo 39 looked like they were stuck behind there when the machine was being put together