{{Short description|American slot route operator}} {{Infobox company |name = United Coin Machine |former_name= |logo = |fate = acquired by Century Gaming Technologies |parent = |traded_as = |foundation = 1958 |location_city = [[Paradise, Nevada]] |location_country = USA |key_people = Bernard Shapiro |industry = [[Casino game]]s |products = |revenue = |assets = |subsid = |homepage = {{URL|unitedcoin.com}} |footnotes = }} '''United Coin Machine Co.''' was an American [[slot route operator]] based in [[Paradise, Nevada]]. It operated [[slot machines]] in locations such as bars, [[convenience store]]s, and grocery stores. For many years, United Coin was the largest slot route operator in Nevada.
==History== United Coin was founded in 1958.<ref>{{cite news|title=New owner to retain United Coin employees|newspaper=Las Vegas Sun|author=Liz Benston|date=July 3, 2003|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2003/jul/03/new-owner-to-retain-united-coin-employees/|accessdate=2014-06-01}}</ref> Bernard Shapiro, who had owned a coin machine business in Northern California, and a small stake in the [[Royal Nevada]] casino, started the company after the Royal Nevada went out of business.<ref>{{cite news|title=Players are not just people|author=Tex Maule|newspaper=Sports Illustrated|date=April 29, 1963|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1074722/2/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125192955/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1074722/2/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 25, 2011|accessdate=2014-06-01}}</ref>
[[Advanced Patent Technology]] purchased the company in 1979.<ref>{{cite news|title=Advanced Patent's future|newspaper=New York Times|author=Robert Metz|date=September 3, 1980|url=https://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=NYTF000020060708dc9300cwd&cat=a&ep=ASE}} {{subscription required}}</ref>
In 1980, Advanced Patent reached an agreement to sell United Coin to [[Bristol Silver Mines Co.]] for $13 million in cash and stock.<ref>{{cite news|title=Advanced Patent says Bristol Silver Mines gets option for a unit|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=April 4, 1980|id={{ProQuest|134383954}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Advanced Patent withdrew from the offer three months later, though, saying that United Coin was now "more desirable".<ref>{{cite news|title=Advanced Patent says SEC seeks information on stock sales|newspaper=Dow Jones News Service|date=July 2, 1980|url=https://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=dj00000020011126dc72033rd&cat=a&ep=ASE}} {{subscription required}}</ref>
In 2000, United Coin's parent, now known as Alliance Gaming, agreed to sell the company for $112 million in cash plus $6 million in [[preferred stock]] to gaming developers Michael Luzich and Daniel Kehl.<ref>{{cite news|title=Las Vegas-based slot route operation sold for $118 million|newspaper=Las Vegas Sun|date=July 10, 2000|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2000/jul/10/las-vegas-based-slot-route-operation-sold-for-118-/|accessdate=2014-06-01}}</ref> Alliance canceled the deal a year later due to increased profits at United Coin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Financial turnaround prompts cancellation of slot route deal|newspaper=Las Vegas Sun|author=David Strow|date=June 26, 2001|url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2001/jun/26/financial-turnaround-prompts-cancellation-of-slot-/|accessdate=2014-06-01}}</ref>
In 2004, Century Gaming bought United Coin for $100 million cash plus $5 million in assumed debt.<ref>{{cite news|title=Shake-up under way at Alliance|newspaper=Las Vegas Sun|date=July 1, 2004|author=Kevin Rademacher|url=https://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=LVSN000020040709e0710002n&cat=a&ep=ASE}} {{subscription required}}</ref>
The company sold off its operations in Northern Nevada to another slot route operator in 2013, but then returned to the region in 2015, placing machines at a chain of sports bars.<ref>{{cite news|title=Century Gaming wary of proposed new slot machine tax|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|author=Howard Stutz|date=March 3, 2015|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/century-gaming-wary-proposed-new-slot-machine-tax|accessdate=2015-03-09}}</ref>
In July 2014, the company dropped the United Coin name and rebranded its operations in Nevada and Montana as Century Gaming Technologies.<ref>{{cite news|title=United Coin Machine changes name to Century Gaming Technologies|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|author=Howard Stutz|date=July 14, 2014|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/united-coin-machine-changes-name-century-gaming-technologies|accessdate=2015-03-09}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{official website|http://www.unitedcoin.com/|United Coin Machine Co.}}
[[Category:Companies based in Paradise, Nevada]] [[Category:Gambling companies of the United States]] [[Category:Gambling companies established in 1958]] [[Category:1958 establishments in Nevada]] [[Category:Privately held companies based in the Las Vegas Valley]]