Coin Phone ID and Opinion Help Please.

[Fabius]

I've been searching for a WECO single slot that was as close to original condition. A forum member was nice to offer me two WECO. Would those of you who are knowledgeable on this take a look and tell me what you see and what you think. They are both priced the same. Thanks.

[trainman]

Id take the green one. It is a 1C. Green is harder to come by, and it has all older parts. Probably as pulled from service.

The other one is a 1D. 32C chassis board. So, realtivly newer. The upper housing is an older mid 1970s. Probably refurbished in the 1990s. It also has a newer style dial.

The interesting story is, there really were no 1D rotaries. They decided to put rotaries back in service to deter drug dealing. The reasoning was younger kids wouldnt know how to use a rotary phone.

Id try to het them both. The green one was taken out of service long before it was upgraded to a D set, or that area saw D sets.

The green has an older faceplate, like pre mid 1970s.

The other one is early, too. That one was the 2nd type. The 3rd type being wjat we see today.

But if you can only get one, id go with the green one. More original with older parts, but both have some history.

[Fabius]

Thank you for the input. I'm told the green one has no keys nor locks. Are those obtainable?

[trainman]

well, abloy or medeco locks are readily available on ebay.

Western electric 30C for the vault are on ebay.

the 29a  type for the upper housing might be harder to find, especially if you want to  be region specific.  i personally wouldnt bother with locks on a single slot. you dont need lock on a single slot to keep things closed, like you do on a 3 slot.

Story about putting rotary back in service. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/10/nyregion/rotary-pay-phones-return-this-time-to-foil-drug-deals.html