Fact #50
The Ancient Romans Had a Coin-Operated Vending Machine
In the 1st century AD, the engineer Hero of Alexandria described a machine that released a measured amount of sacred water when someone inserted a coin. The coin landed on a small pan connected to a lever. Its weight opened a valve and let water flow. As the pan tilted, the coin eventually slipped off, causing the lever to return and the valve to close. The device is widely regarded as the earliest known vending machine—created in Roman Egypt nearly 2,000 years before modern snack and drink machines.
Mini Facts
1
Hero worked in Alexandria, Egypt, during the Roman period and was active around the mid-1st century AD.
2
His book Pneumatica described more than 100 mechanical devices, including coin-operated machinery.
3
The vending machine worked entirely through gravity, a lever and a valve—no electricity required.
4
Hero also described the aeolipile, a steam-powered device that could spin using jets of escaping steam.