Phonoland

When I buy a jukebox it is very rare if there isn't a least one nickel, dime or quarter floating around in it somewhere. But having just broke my personal record for the amount found in a jukebox I was wondering how much other people find in jukeboxes. I am talking about jukeboxes which you have purchased from general sale, which you would have expected to be empty - not a jukebox which you got from your granny who has just forgotten to remove her life savings.

I picked one up the other day with $170 in quarters still in the money bag. I had to drill-out the lock, but still expected it to be empty as it had come from an auction.

Lets hear your stories of found treasures.

I bought my 3rd & 4th jukeboxes, a Rockola 490 and a 496, from a guy 200 miles away who told me he had no keys and had never been inside of either one. I had all kinds of wild ideas about what I might find inside. Getting them home, I could open the domes with a P600 key, but both had the moneyboxes secured. In fact, the 490 even had an old tray-type bill validator with a steel chute to the bag! That really got my imagination working. Long story short, I got them open and had the biggest disappointment since Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone's vault on national TV.
Since then, I've found a few lost coins in probably every jukebox I've bought. The most was in a Rockola 474 where somebody had put black tape around all four coin switches. That slug rejector was packed full of quarters. Probably less than $3 dollars' worth. Nothing like the nice rebate you just got.
Patrick

Hi
Got a NSM wall mounted cd machine a number of years ago, kept tripping the fuse, after investigation of the power supply at the base of the machine beneath the coin collection box, i found 102 euro in coins (circa 130 dollars) and even better the coins were causing the problem on the power supply
regards
clones

Only $35 in quarters in a Galaga arcade. Was hoping to find more then the $1.00 I found in my NSM.

Tim

The most I ever found was $26, but it was in a box I bought from a vendor. Somehow the coins were not hitting the funnel and were dropping out on the floor of the box instead of the coin box.

Guy's
I once found over $500.00 in a "turn-in" phonograph ! I called the operator, and told him that I "found some money" in it, after drilling the lock, and he told me to "keep it". Well, since I liked him, I then told him that there was an "overflowing" cash bag full--he then said "I'll be right there ! " He was, and he gave me a $50.00 "reward"- which was well over a day's pay, in those daze--- Ron Rich

That's a great story Ron.

I haven't yet found more money in a jukebox than I paid for it, meaning I got the box for free, but one day I'm sure it will happen.

It always amazes me just how much people leave behind in jukeboxes, even when it's only a couple of dollars. I guess any coin operated machine would be the same.

Keith,
Yes--when I worked for a "Distributor", all of the "shops" had their own "slush funds", acquired from "left-overs", in turned in machines. One weekend the building was robbed--all "slush funds" were emptied--I suspect it was an "inside job"--but after that, we hid our music shop, fund, "VERY well" ! Ron Rich

Reminds me of a story I heard many years ago, about a Russian worker, that worked in a local prison, but lived on the outside of the walls--(true/false ??)
Every night, he would leave the prison, with a wheel barrow full of wood. Every night the guards would sift through the wood looking for "something he was stealing". They never found anything, so on his last day, after many years working there, when he again appeared with the wheel barrow full of wood, the guard said to him--
We KNOW that you have been stealing SOMETHING, but we can't figure out what it is, or how you are doing it--tell us, as it's you last night, and we will not report you--
His answer--
"Wheel-barrows"
Ron Rich

Those are really cool stories.

Reminds me of when I worked as a computer repair technician back in the late 90's. We had a boss who was clueless. Anytime we needed to order parts he would have us write the orders and he would sign them. You know what's coming don't you!!! Well, I won't go into all the things we used to order, but one day the kettle in our office died, so we completed an order form to one of these companies which sells parts, cleaning supplies, office supplies, and anything else they can make a buck on. These companies are only interested in their part numbers on the orders, they don't even look at the descriptions, which was the only part that our boss looked at. So, in the middle of a list of legitimate parts was "H 2 O Heat Exchanger" along with the part number of a new kettle. As our boss had his own office he never saw the deliveries, they came direct to us. A couple of days later we had our new kettle - paid for by the "establishment".