Gambling, slot machine expert Bob Levy heads new division at Morphy’s

Bob Levy, newly appointed department director and specialist in charge of coin-operated gambling machines and related devices at Dan Morphy Auctions. Image courtesy Morphy’s.

DENVER, Pa. – One of the country’s most respected dealers of early gambling and mechanical slot machines, Bob Levy, has joined Dan Morphy Auctions’ team of specialists and will head a new department specifically for coin-operated gambling machines and related devices.

Widely regarded as a top expert in his field, Levy continues to operate his long-established business – The Unique One – from a showroom in Pennsauken, N.J., and through a Web site he has maintained since 1997, antiqueslotmachines.com. He will now also be managing all aspects of the consignment, cataloging and sale of coin-operated gambling devices auctioned through Morphy’s.

“I’m thrilled to be associated with Morphy’s,” Levy said. “I just turned 65 and was looking toward the next phase of working and enjoying life when Dan presented the perfect transition to me. I’ll be doing less moving of heavy items, now, but still working with wonderful things, through someone I admire. In the past, I had bought at all of Dan’s auctions and visited his Adamstown Antique Gallery every time I was in south-central Pennsylvania. Dan impressed me as the person I would want to have handling my own collection if I were to sell. Now I’ll be representing him, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Bob Levy was born in Philadelphia, graduated from Atlantic City High School in New Jersey, and went on to earn bachelor of arts degrees in both Business Management and Economics from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Following a career in sales in the wholesale tea and coffee business, and after having founded his own successful company called “Coffee One,” Levy became enamored of antiques and started selling through co-ops and group shops in Smithville, Rancocas and Medford, N.J.

In 1989, an unexpected opportunity presented itself and changed the course of Levy’s career in antiques. “I had traveled to Arizona to look at an old Lincoln automobile I was thinking about buying, and happened to notice a slot machine in a pawn shop window. It was a 1964 Art Deco-style Harrah’s Club machine,” Levy recalled. “I had never seen an antique slot machine before but loved the look of it, so I bought it and shipped it home.”

Shortly thereafter, Levy learned of an auction of pinballs, jukeboxes and slot machines that was to take place at a firehouse in Skippack, Pa. “I went and bought three slot machines and put them in my booth at the group shop,” Levy said. “That started me on the path to buying and collecting slot machines, and to become focused on just that one specialty.”

Levy – who is known within the trade as “the slot machine guy” – has sold to customers throughout the United States as well as France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. He sets up his slot machines at eight to 10 major antique shows per year and has crossed the country many times in pursuit of rare examples.

“It would be the exception rather than the rule to encounter a serious collector of gambling machines who has not either met or transacted business with Bob Levy,” said Dan Morphy Auctions’ CEO, Dan Morphy. “I have known Bob for over 20 years, and he is not only one of the most knowledgeable dealers in his specialty but also one of the nicest and most ethical individuals I have ever met. He brings to Morphy Auctions a reputation of honesty and integrity that is an exact fit for our business model. He is a tremendous asset to our team of specialists, and I’m extremely pleased about his decision to join us.”

To contact Bob Levy, call 856-663-2554 or e-mail antiqueslotmachines@yahoo.com. Visit Dan Morphy Auctions online at www.morphyauctions.com. View Morphy’s archived sale catalogs, with prices realized, online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

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