Gold Ball

Gold Ball, manufactured by the Chicago Coin Machine Manufacturing Company in August 1947, is a flipperless electro-mechanical game from the very cusp of pinball's flipper revolution, released just months before flippers began sweeping the industry. With a confirmed production run of 2,500 units and backglass art by the celebrated Roy Parker, it is a solid representative of late pre-flipper pinball.

The game's namesake gimmick is its ball set: four silver balls and one gold ball, with the gold ball scoring double. This simple twist added a welcome layer of anticipation and strategy to each game. The playfield offers nine passive bumpers and five kick-out holes, giving the balls plenty of paths and scoring opportunities as they work their way down the playfield.

As a fun footnote, the gold playfield ball idea resurfaced decades later in Bally Midway's 1983 game of the same name, which also featured a score-multiplying gold ball. Chicago Coin's original remains a charming artifact of 1940s pinball and the enduring appeal of a simple, clever hook.