Chicago Coin Machine Mfg. Co.

Chicago Coin Machine Mfg. Co., founded in Chicago around 1931 by Samuel H. Gensburg with partners Sam Wolberg and Lou Koren, was a prolific American manufacturer of coin-operated pinball machines and arcade novelties known simply as Chicago Coin. The company produced a substantial catalog of electromechanical pinball machines — including early hits like Blackstone (1933), the illuminated playfield pioneering Beam-Lite (1935), and the postwar best-seller Kilroy (1947) — along with bowlers, rifle games and other novelty amusements that remain sought after by vintage pinball collectors. Though respected for dependable, entertaining designs, Chicago Coin tended to adopt established mechanisms rather than lead cutting-edge innovation and struggled to keep pace with the industry’s shift to solid-state electronics and the rapid rise of video arcade games in the 1970s. In 1977 the company ceased operations and its assets were purchased by Gary and Sam Stern to form Stern Electronics, allowing some Chicago Coin designs to persist in modified form while closing the chapter on the company’s nearly 46-year presence in the pinball industry.