Here's one you don't see every day- a 1953 Genco Golden Nugget. I saw this on my local Craigslist last summer, and it popped up again in my daily search about 2 weeks ago at a much more reasonable price. I shot the guy I message, and he told me I could have it for free-- his property sold, and it needed to go- if I didn't pick it up he was going to put it to the curb, and I couldn't let that happen. It's a little rough, and he said it's not currently working-- but it does appear to be complete, right down to the coin box.

I found the schematic and the instructions at IPDB, but I don't know what size balls it uses. I have some extras for my pitch and bat machine, but they appear to be too big. If anyone knows what size they are supposed to be, I'd appreciate it! If anyone has one of these machines, I would greatly appreciate high res photos of the graphics (the ones on IPDB aren't adequate to make water slides of the decals from).

FWIW, IPDB is incorrect-- this is not a flipperless machine-- it has single flipper on the left side.

http://ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1054

golden nugget 2 (resized).JPG
golden nugget 3 (resized).JPG
golden nugget 4 (resized).JPG
Golden Nugget 1 (resized).JPG

EDIT: Sorry for the lousy photos. There's a torrential downpour outside, and we unloaded the machine into the (cramped!) garage, rather than try to bring it in the house. If anyone is interested, I'll post more detailed photos once I've got it inside.

A bit... the balls are lifted to the top of the playfield by a conveyor on the right hand side (you can see it in this IPDB photo: http://ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1054&picno=17213). They roll off the conveyor and down the metal ramp across the top of the playfield. You can see where the ball drops down onto the "bumper" on the left-- that's actually a flipper. You use the flipper to try to direct the ball to certain lanes-- and certain combinations of games award more balls. The control the player has over the ball is not pachinko like (I have a couple of those as well).

Once I've got it working, I'll have a much better sense of the rules and strategy.

I found a video of gameplay of a 1953 Genco Silver Chest, which appears to be mechanically identical.

Apparently it didn't use metal balls-- it uses marbles. An old thread on rec.games.pinball suggests using these: https://www.moonmarble.com/p-1391-opaque-red-1.aspx

The torrential downpour stopped long enough for me to go out to the garage for a few minutes and plug the machine in.

It lights up, and the score motor starts running immediately- and decredits the score reels. So at least I know it isn't all seized up. I'm headed to my local Staples to get an engineering sized schematic printed, and I'll get the machine moved inside when I can get a buddy over to help.

Thanks oldcarz !

Two questions...

Is the comment I made above about the marbles correct? 1 inch?

Any thoughts on where to start looking for whatever is keeping the score motor running? Just got home with the large print of the schematic, and I'll tear into the game when I can get it downstairs.

Any idea what locks the bottom half of the cabinet closed? It's locked with the backglass door is locked, but I can't figure out how.

Just for giggles, I'm going to document what it costs to get the machine up and running. I've spent untold amounts of money on my other machines, and never kept track of it. I'll edit this post as I go...

Large print schematic: $3.88.
Wood glue, hitch pins, and corner brackets: $ 8.90 (total: $12.78).

(When I pulled the coin box out, there was a small handful of coins, so I actually made money picking this machine up)

oldcarz - I could also really use high res images of the graphics around the buttons and at the bottom of the backglass. I am going to try to make water slide graphics of them.

Yeah, that's what I plan to do. I figured he might know of problem areas since he's got two of them. Not a lot of documentation out there... but either way, I'll end up going through it switch by switch before it's over. I get a little OCD about that sort of stuff.

oldcarz -- Thanks! I figured out the hinged bottom. Without a lockable top half, it wasn't obvious.

BenB -- that one is a whole lot nicer than mine!

Spent this evening fixing the corners of the backglass frame. It was dangerously close to coming apart. It's glued and clamped now, and the glue is drying. In the next few days, I'll add corner braces on the backside where they will be out of view. I need to add locks to the top, and then I'll be able to move it down the flight of steps to my game room.

Amen. I've become fairly adequate at reading schematics and fixing EMs, and it's all due to kind folks here.

oldcarz - Thank you! Those photos are amazing, and are exactly what I needed!

Marbles-- 3 different colors (couldn't decide what I like) $18.10 (total: $30.88).

I can no longer edit the original post... so I'll add it to the bottom each time I guess.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anybody-good-with-genco-schematics#post-3801495

Started a thread about getting this machine up and running. If you have any expertise with Genco machines and would be willing to lend a hand, it would be much appreciated!

Previous total: $30.88

Flipper button and retaining clip ($3.71).
3 playfield inserts ($2.82).
Rings for posts and flipper: ($4.20).

New total: $41.61.

In other news, I think I'm pretty close to having it running. I can coin it up, and it credit counter decrements by one. The ball counter resets, and the lights come on. The conveyor that brings balls to the top of the playfield kicks on. The switch in the upper ball trough registers that a ball has gone through, and the balls play cycles through and eventually goes to game over.

What still isn't working:
- no flipper
- conveyor doesn't stop at the end of a game
- playfield switches are non responsive.

Haven't had any more progress. I started another thread that hasn't had much activity. If any of you are handy with Genco repair and inclined to lend a hand, please jump in!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/anybody-good-with-genco-schematics#post-3814400