Chicago Coin
Encyclopedia
Chicago Coin was one of the early major manufacturers of pinball
tables. Chicago Coin, founded in 1931, would make pingames and modern pinball machines for over 45 years before being sold to the Stern family in 1977 and becoming Stern Electronics, Inc.
, Illinois
, which was the center of the pinball and arcade game industry since the early days of the coin-operated amusement industry. Chicago Coin was formed in 1931 by partners Sam Gensburg, Lou Koren and Sam Wolberg. Incidentally, Sam Gensburg's three brothers Louis, Meyer, and David formed a rival pinball company called Genco. Genco would remain a competitor with Chicago Coin until the companies merged in 1959.
The first Chicago Coin pingame was actually manufactured by Stoner, a manufacturing partner of Chicago Coin. The game was called Blackstone and was made in 1933. The first original Chicago Coin game was a pingame called Leland, produced two months after Blackstone. In 1935, Chicago Coin produced Beam-Lite, which sold an astounding 5,703 units.
Chicago Coin's first pinball table to have flippers was Bermuda, released in November 1947. Unlike the "big three" of the post-flipperless pinball industry, Chicago Coin was often seen as not being as innovative as rivals Gottlieb
, Williams
, and Bally. Additionally, CC pinball tables were often seen as being inferior in quality to their more popular rivals. Chicago Coin would struggle to shake this reputation throughout its existence.
games, electromechanical car driving games, and skeeball tables. In 1973, Chicago Coin attempted to get in on the Pong
craze by releasing two of its own arcade game consoles: TV Football and TV Hockey. The company also manufactured a unique arcade videogame item in 1975 called Super Flipper, which was essentially a video game simulation of pinball with a display monitor housed in a miniature pinball cabinet. In spite of these efforts, Chicago Coin was in financial trouble and by 1977, the company's assets were sold to Stern Electronics. It is erroneously believed that Stern Electronics, Inc. became Data East Pinball, which became Sega Pinball, which became Stern Pinball, Inc. This is untrue as interviews with Gary Stern, president of all 4 companies has pointed out. Stern Electronics, Inc. went bankrupt in 1984 and did not become any other entity.
Pinball
Pinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...
tables. Chicago Coin, founded in 1931, would make pingames and modern pinball machines for over 45 years before being sold to the Stern family in 1977 and becoming Stern Electronics, Inc.
Early history
As its names implies, Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company was located in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, which was the center of the pinball and arcade game industry since the early days of the coin-operated amusement industry. Chicago Coin was formed in 1931 by partners Sam Gensburg, Lou Koren and Sam Wolberg. Incidentally, Sam Gensburg's three brothers Louis, Meyer, and David formed a rival pinball company called Genco. Genco would remain a competitor with Chicago Coin until the companies merged in 1959.
The first Chicago Coin pingame was actually manufactured by Stoner, a manufacturing partner of Chicago Coin. The game was called Blackstone and was made in 1933. The first original Chicago Coin game was a pingame called Leland, produced two months after Blackstone. In 1935, Chicago Coin produced Beam-Lite, which sold an astounding 5,703 units.
Chicago Coin's first pinball table to have flippers was Bermuda, released in November 1947. Unlike the "big three" of the post-flipperless pinball industry, Chicago Coin was often seen as not being as innovative as rivals Gottlieb
Gottlieb
Gottlieb was an arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was established by David Gottlieb in 1927, initially producing pinball machines while later expanding into various other games including pitch-and-bats, bowling games, and eventually video arcade games .Like other...
, Williams
Williams (gaming company)
WMS Industries, Inc. is an American electronic gaming and amusement company based in Waukegan, Illinois. The company's main operating subsidiaries are WMS Gaming and Orion Gaming. WMS traces its roots as far back as 1943, the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded by Harry E. Williams...
, and Bally. Additionally, CC pinball tables were often seen as being inferior in quality to their more popular rivals. Chicago Coin would struggle to shake this reputation throughout its existence.
Later history
Chicago Coin, more so than its main competitors, tended to be a general purpose arcade amusement company. The company made products such as shuffle bowlingBowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
games, electromechanical car driving games, and skeeball tables. In 1973, Chicago Coin attempted to get in on the Pong
Pong
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
craze by releasing two of its own arcade game consoles: TV Football and TV Hockey. The company also manufactured a unique arcade videogame item in 1975 called Super Flipper, which was essentially a video game simulation of pinball with a display monitor housed in a miniature pinball cabinet. In spite of these efforts, Chicago Coin was in financial trouble and by 1977, the company's assets were sold to Stern Electronics. It is erroneously believed that Stern Electronics, Inc. became Data East Pinball, which became Sega Pinball, which became Stern Pinball, Inc. This is untrue as interviews with Gary Stern, president of all 4 companies has pointed out. Stern Electronics, Inc. went bankrupt in 1984 and did not become any other entity.
Notable Pinballs
Chicago Coin tables are often lesser known than those made by Gottlieb, Williams, and Bally. Nonetheless, there were several CC tables that were more distinguishable than others.- Bronco (1963)
- Casino (1972)
- Gold Record (1975)
- Hee Haw (1973)
- Hi Flyer (1974)
- Hollywood (1976)
- Red Baron (1975)
- Riviera (1973)
- Sound Stage (1976)
- Stage Coach (1968)
- Sun Valley (1962)