Sliding down the 78 rpm slippery slope....help

I was in a local antique shop and they had an Amphion New Phonola Model X 78 rpm player for sale. It had been restored and was in a gorgeous cabinet. The front opened up to reveal the speaker cloth. There was a big crank on the right hand side...it came with a bag of "needles" that looked like sharp pieces of metal. Unfortunately the antique guy only had what looked like a trashed country 78rpm recording to demonstrate the unit. It worked fine and actually was pretty loud. So....the guy wanted 500 bucks for it...anyone know anything about these? He claimed it was from the l920s....if I had some rare jazz 78s would I play them on this contraption or would it trash them?....I live an a 100 year old house...it would look pretty cool in the den....anyhow I need some guidance....I am a vinyl guy deciding whether I need to become a shellac guy....