The Internet Pinball Serial Number Database or IPSND collects serial numbers of pinball machines and publishes a database of these on the Internet. Our goal is to make available a registration of all pinball machines in existence and allow tools for slicing, dicing and visualization of the data.

Games: 6,696  Serials: 68,299  Visitors: 74,156,826  Members: 5,620  Photos: 43,827  Lat/Lng: 37,400  Masks: 68,299(1,020.00%)  Traits: 572  Nudges: 222,337  Backglasses: 1,865
  Most Serials: Twilight Zone(1,305)  Most Submissions: Dennis Braun(6,100)  Most Points: Dennis Braun(45,409)  Highest Quality: The Knight(17.00)  Most Nudges: pinballservice-nl(28,209)
Firepower - IPSND/IPDB No. 856 - February 1980
Backglass Image
Manufacturer: Williams Electronics, Inc. (1967-1985)
Players: 4
MPU: Williams System 6
Production Run: 17,410
Game Type: Solid State Electronic (SS)
Model: 497
Submissions: 312 serials of 17,410 (1.79%)
Coverage help:

Coverage is a mathematical interpretation of the serial numbers that have been submitted so far. The term 'coverage' relates to the amount of the production run that has been 'covered' in the given submissions.

There are two coverage methods shown, each has a different approach of calculating an guess on the number of games produced by analysing the currently submitted serial numbers.

Linear: Linear coverage simply looks at the highest serial number and subtracts from it the smallest serial number to estimate the number of games produced. For some games, this works fine because the serial numbers were sequential and without gaps (Early Bally, Early Stern, etc). However, this approach starts to fail quickly for games that serial numbers are part of a bigger numbering scheme (Williams pre 1984, Current Stern) or that intentially had gaps/skips in the numbering sequence(Gottlieb post 1960). If you see a linear coverage number that is higher than the known production run, it is probably not the best way to look at the serial range and you should look at the clustered approach below.

Clustered: Clustered coverage assumes that there are gaps/skips in the serial sequence for a game. It groups the serial numbers together based upon how close they are to the next serial number in the sequence. If they fall within a certain threshold then the SerialBot assumes that there are valid serial numbers between the two. If they are far enough apart, then the SerialBot assumes this is a gap. Once all the gaps and groups are determined, it sums up all the linear ranges in each group. This way, if a sample run of games started at 15,000-15,100 and the production games started at 17,000 onwards, it would assume that the serial numbers between 15,100-17,000 were a gap an are not counted. Using this method, as more serial numbers are submitted the gap analysis will get more accurate.

61,373 (352.52%) linear / 21,121(121.32%) in 7 clusters 870 wide.
Cluster Serial Number SerialBot Submitted By Country Game Part

Submit a new Game Trait

The following traits help

Game Traits are properties for an individual game that you would like to see tracked along with the other information gathered for a serial number submission. Some examples of existing traits are... Joust: Black or Blue bottom Arch, Black Knight: Faceted Inserts or Normal Inserts, Twilight Zone: 3rd Magnet Installed or not.

have been submitted for this game...

Field NameDescriptonSubmitted BySubmit DateSubmitted
Drop Targets Installed Early prototype games had two sets of 3 drop targets installed for the main center target banks instead of the more common spot targets. Jess Askey6/19/2007140
Cabinet Bottom Print At least one game in this production run was made with a cabinet bottom panel having a 'brick wall' pattern on its outside surface. Another cabinet has been found that had a 'panel and dentil' pattern. This has been attributed to one or more cabinet companies having a shortage of the regular type of bottom panel. Jay St@fford7/16/201295

Cluster Serial Number Country

This section lists any known game part serials that happen to match this game's serial mask (if defined). What this can tell you is if a game has any orphaned parts that might exist in other machines. This generally applies to CPU/MPU boards, Driver Boards, Display boards etc that are easily moved from game to game. Repair shops and distributors often robbed parts from other 'scrap' games laying around in a pinch if they were not able to fix the original part or of the original part was damaged beyond repair. If serials start showing up in the database as 'game parts', there is potentially a good chance that that game has been parted out completely, which is unfortunate. It is becoming more and more common for people to part out games and sell them on ebay simply because the seller can often make more money that way.... Please do not sacrifice complete games for money!!!

SerialBotSerial NumberTypeSubmitted ByCountryDetails
28953 301424017 Sound Board John Vorwerk United States flag United States
30392 301424048 Sound Board John Vorwerk United States flag United States
21427 419194 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
21535 419637 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
31246 421179 Sound Board Antti Peltonen Hungary flag Hungary
25593 421211 Sound Board John Vorwerk United States flag United States
20959 421355 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
22322 421651 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
28407 421737 Power Supply John Vorwerk United States flag United States
27191 421762 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
23960 424484 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
29013 424597 Display/Driver Pat Herbert United States flag United States
21434 424882 Power Supply John Vorwerk United States flag United States
35391 425314 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
36052 425725 Display/Driver Adam United States flag United States
20958 425725 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
20465 425792 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
22321 426071 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
35250 427029 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
25428 427056 Display/Driver Jim Smith United States flag United States
20960 427237 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
35215 427291 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
26340 427595 Power Supply John Vorwerk United States flag United States
23959 427665 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
25757 427671 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
29053 427825 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
20845 428183 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
20867 428369 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
36472 428660 MPU/CPU Matías N. Brusa Argentina flag Argentina
34902 428700 Display/Driver Matías N. Brusa Argentina flag Argentina
29878 428995 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
20795 429224 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
27938 429297 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
36189 429777 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
35476 430252 Power Supply John Vorwerk United States flag United States
36061 431101 Power Supply Adam United States flag United States
25099 431399 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
36056 431821 Power Supply Adam United States flag United States
27846 431857 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
35252 431873 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
25176 431911 MPU/CPU John Vorwerk United States flag United States
23639 432018 Display/Driver Shawn Christian United States flag United States
31110 432055 Sound Board Rod McLarge United States flag United States
20708 432055 Display/Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
28460 432350 Sound Board Jess Askey United States flag United States
28962 432423 Power Supply Ric Turner United States flag United States
27414 432750 Solenoid Driver John Vorwerk United States flag United States
35305 436646 Sound Board John Vorwerk United States flag United States
25668 437496 MPU/CPU Antti Peltonen Finland flag Finland
26657 437784 MPU/CPU King of Pinball United States flag United States
26795 437938 MPU/CPU Antti Peltonen Finland flag Finland

This section lists any known information about how to physically find serial numbers on games created by this manufacturer. For all manufacturer tips, please visit the Serial Tips Page . (Please do not post serial numbers here on this form.)

Posted 1/11/2007 11:52:51 PM by Bill Ung

Older Williams games are very much like older Gottlieb games. The serial numbers are stamped/etched into the wood on the front of the cabinet. This holds true for anything prior to say, oh, 1984/1985, or around System 9. Occasionally you have to look hard for it, like the Joust game at PAPA 5. I did find it eventually, serial number for that game was: 624985. Williams games from the late 60's up to the mid 80's were 6 digit numbers.

Posted 6/9/2007 8:07:09 PM by Jess Askey
Also, for Joust and Rat Race games... the serial for the tabletop style cabinet is on the 1st player side in the bottom left . It is a 6-digit number stamped into the wood.
Posted 6/19/2007 12:37:14 PM by Jess Askey
Williams also seemed to staple small rectangular paper labels inside the cabinet were the backbox attaches that has the serial number nicely printed in clearly legible text. You have to take the backbox off to see this area generally but it is an easy way to read a serial number if the stamp is mangled. There is also a stamp in this same location generally. I have a hyperball cabinet that has a clearly stamped serial number on the front of the cabinet and inside the top area that doesn't match the printed label however, so it seems they must not have paid close attention to the paper and stamps serials matching all the time.
Posted 6/25/2007 11:10:53 AM by Jess Askey
For Williams video games, the serial number is stamped in the front of the cabinet below the control panel. It is typically above the coin door to the right.
Posted 11/8/2007 6:51:33 PM by Jess Askey
On my Time Fantasy, there was a paper tag stapled on the underside of the Playfield with a serial number on it. The paper tag was about 1" by 2" and had the game name in Black with the serial number printed in Red.
Posted 4/7/2011 8:22:33 PM by Mark Skotchdopole
Found mine on paper tag...90910. interesting because my backglass is green. The guy who owns 90909 is blue. Could mine be the first green backglass made?
Posted 9/17/2011 9:18:09 PM by David DiEnno
Williams Gold Rush: The serial number is located in several places. Inside the lightbox, inside the lower cabinet, the upper playfield apron...all of these three are paper tags. They should all match. If not, sometime in the machine's service life, a part was replaced.
Posted 11/14/2011 8:40:51 AM by Pistol Pete
The serial number may also be found stamped into the metal sheet in the backbox near the right mounting bolt hole, front edge of the metal sheet
Posted 1/8/2012 6:09:04 AM by Crimson Clyde
Let´s see what I found on my Williams Big Deal System. There are two identical numbers I found after a long search. 1st: On the front of the cabinet right under the coin door stamped into the wood. 2nd: Inside the cabinet, viewed through the coin door with a lamp on the right side of the wood crossbrace, printed on a label with the words "Cabinets". These two # are identical! I found many more numbers inside the cabinet but I think that the one stamped in the wood is the true serial. The label with "Cabinets" on it is the only one which matches the one in the wood. So finally you have a double chance to find it. There's also a label called "Panel" inside the cabinet. This label really looks like that one with "Cabinets", but the number isn't the same with "Cabinets" and that in front of the Pinball system. So now, I have to find the year of construction...
Posted 2/10/2012 1:05:38 PM by Robin Leath
If you are struggling to read the stamped Serial No. on the front of the cabinat (Williams somewhere below and to left of coin door) try doing a rubbing by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing a pencil so that the lead is flat to the paper. Rub this back and forth and the Serial No. will appear and make it easier for you to read. I had to do this on my Gorgar as the No. was in the black area and not heavily stamped, but became clearly visible on a rubbing !
Members can submit new tips on how to find serial numbers! Sign up for a free membership here!

This game has the following serial number formats defined in the database. As serial numbers are sumbitted, trends are recognized and defined or information about a serial number format is collected through historical information.

TypeExamplesRegExMaskLowerLimitUpperLimitAutoAssignable
Production Game 432369, 430617, 421460 ^([0-9]?[0-9]?[0-9]?)(?<sortdata>4[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9])$ False
Cabinet mis-stamp 19803 ^(?<sortdata>19803)$ False


The Serial Bot Summary information here gives a detailed explanation of the Serial Bot analysis for this specific game. The theory behind the Serial Bot is this...

Every game has many many serial number submissions, the goal of the IPSND is not to guarantee that *all* information is 100% correct but that over time, the system should automatically devalue inaccurate submissions while increasing the value of correct submissions.

You may click on the SerialBot score of any submission to see how it was calculated.

SerialBot Color Codes:
- Not Validated The serial number submission has not yet been validated by the submitter via email.
- Unknown There is no known information on the serial number format for this game yet. As more submissions are received we can start to make a best guess on the serial number format.
- Good If a serial does not fail any of the tests for a status of Warning or Bad, then it is good.
- Suspect A serial will have a suspect status if the format is technically correct but there is something wrong with the data. Examples might be that the number might be too high or low for the known range of serials for this game.
- Bad If a game has a serial number definition mask defined for it, then a serial may be marked as 'bad' if the number does not validate agains the mask. Masks are created for games by looking at known serial number formats and consist of a regular expression to define the format of a game serial.

SerialBot Scores:
1 Point Awarded if the serial number has a game assigned to it. This autoatically makes submissions with a known game more valuable than submissions without a known game.
1 Point Awarded if the serial number has been 'verified' by the submitter. A submission is 'verifed' if the submitter clicks on the link in the email sent to them for each submission. The basis for this rule is that submissions by people that do not take the time to respond to the email might be entering garbage data and/or giving fake email addresses. However, it is common for 'verification' emails to get stuck in spam filters etc, so, members may have 'verification' emails re-sent at any time.
1 Point Awarded if the submitted serial number matches one of the predefined serial number masks for this game.
1 Point Awarded if the serial number was marked as 'Physically Viewed' during the submission process. This is an interesting distinction as there are many times that serial numbers are submitted off owners lists, Ebay auction, etc. While these serial numbers are valuable, they may also be innacurate. In comparison, Physically Viewed serial number submissions are numbers that the submitter has actually been in front of the machine reading the number and then submitting it. Since it is more likely to get a good visual from a physically viewed machine, this gains an extra point.
1 Point If a photo is uploaded with the serial number submission. The submission automatically gains an additional point. Be aware however that this opens the submission up to 'Nudges' by members where even more points can be added or subtracted based upon the quality and accuracy of the photo.
-3 to +3 Points Members can 'Nudge' every sumitted photo once and give it an extra boost of 1 point or take away 1 point depending if the photo matches the submitted serial number. While any number of members may nudge a serial, the nudging can only affect the score by +/- 3 points in either direction.

The following map shows the locations of all serial numbers that were submitted with a geolocation...