Casino Chips Price Guide
A state by state guide for casino chip collectors, complete with photos and descriptions of more than 4,000 casino chips. The Online Information Source For Casino Chip Collectors:: Features What's New Global ChipGuide ChipGuide Query Facility Special Collections Casino Search Chip. Las Vegas Casino Chips and Atlantic City Casino chips available for sale. Largest selection in the world of in stock chips Also available are Las Vegas casino chips as well as other US casino chips. View the casino chips by location and by Casino. Do a search for casino chips or view the most recently added casino chips.
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- Casino Chips Price Guide
EcommerceBytes-Update, Number 314 - July 08, 2012 - ISSN 1528-6703 5 of 6
By Michele Alice
$28,988.88 for a one dollar casino chip? $100,000 for a one hundred dollar chip?!
You bet, especially if it's a rarity from one of the now defunct Las Vegas casinos like the Showboat (1954-2001) or from the legendary Sahara (1952-2011), the last of the casino-hotels frequented by Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack. (See PokerPlayerNewspaper.)
Prior to the 1880's - a time when most gambling took place in saloons, riverboats, and gambling houses - bets were placed using gold and silver coins, gold nuggets, gold dust, or anything else of acceptable value. Poker chips were developed as a means of standardizing the values of bets. The earliest chips were often made of bone or scrimshawed ivory (and are now highly collectible!), but by the late 19th century a number of companies were producing what would become the casino-grade compression molded clay chip.
Early on, gambling establishments learned that they had to 'brand' their chips in some manner else they'd be flooded with worthless chips snuck in from off-premises. Clay chips, with their printed inlays, inserts (edge spots), and rim mold designs fulfilled all the necessary requirements, including ease of stacking and uniformity of weight, size, and color.
Since then, plastic and ceramic chips have been added to the mix. Ceramic chips, introduced in the 1980's, are actually made of a resin material. Although some collectors like the fact that the graphics on ceramic chips generally cover the entire surface and not just the inlay, clay chips remain the favorite.
A casino chip, except as a souvenir or collectible, has no monetary value outside the issuing establishment. Gambling laws vary from state to state, but jurisdictions such as Nevada require that casinos destroy old chips, so chips in the secondary markets today owe their survival to casino patrons who either forgot they had them in their purses or pockets, or decided to keep them as mementos of their stays. It's not uncommon to find a chip or two at a yard or estate sale where they're thrown onto a table along with other miscellany. And sometimes those two or three dollar purchases can translate into big payouts at auctions.
Casino chips belong to a category of numismatics known as 'exonumia' (money substitutes), and collections of chips are as varied as those of coins. There are collectors who seek out chips of specific denominations, like the $2.50 (or equivalent) 'snappers' used at blackjack tables. Others look for specimens from a particular manufacturer or locale, like Atlantic City. Still others collect specific colors or rim designs, such as the 'Greek key.'
But the most popular and valuable chips are those from Las Vegas, especially those from the old casinos built in the 1940's and 1950's and since demolished to make room for the new mega resorts. Mobster Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel's Flamingo Hotel & Casino, opened in 1946, is a particular favorite, and some 'Bugsy chips' as they're called, can fetch several thousands at auction.
Would you like to learn more about the colorful world of casino chip collecting? Check out the resources listed below, and
Good Luck!
Books
Websites
The Basics of Casino Chip Collecting - A 'cheat-sheet' for the newbie.
The Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club, Inc. (CCGTCC) - THE place to go for info including Chip Condition, Glossary, Buyer's Guides to Casino Collectibles, Cleaning Chips, more!
Casino Chip Museum - Over 10,000 Las Vegas chips on display.
ChipGuide - Includes global casino search, FAQ's, links, more.
History of Gambling in the United States - 1600's to the present
Robert Eisenstadt's Antique Gambling Chips & Gambling Memorabilia Website - Check out the pages on The Five Stages of Making an Inlaid Chip, How to Distinguish Ivory, Bone, and Celluloid Chips, Tips on Chip Collecting, more.
Snappers Without Borders - International database includes pics and info on casinos.
About the author:
Michele Alice is EcommerceBytes Update Contributing Editor. Michele is a freelance writer in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts. She collects books, science fiction memorabilia and more! Email her at makalice @ adelphia.net eBay ID: Malice9
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SSS Publishing Publishers of The Chip Rack Order the 2020 TCR Edition 20 here!! |
Casino Chip Collectors
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Las Vegas, NV - The Chip Rack Edition 20—A Price Guide to the Casino Chips and Checks of Nevada is now available for immediate shipping. The Chip Rack is the leading source of information for collectors of Nevada casino chips. With its all new design, the 464 page book now has detailed descriptions of over 37,000 chips; house, roulette, baccarat, poker, commemorative and limited edition, making it the most comprehensive guide book available. Over 1,000 Nevada casinos are listed.
Vintage Casino Chips Price Guide
Since the publication of edition 19 in January 2019, the editors have added over 400 new chip records to The Chip Rack, and have corrected or revised several thousand further entries including many price changes. We have once again maintained a single volume issue and the price remains unchanged.
SSS Publishing is owned by Jay Sands, past Vice-President and Auction Co-Chairman of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club Inc., David Spragg, Secretary, Webmaster and Auction Co-Chairman of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club Inc., and owner of Marlow Casino Chips, and David Sarles, past President of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club Inc.
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Free Casino Chip Price Guide
SCS Publishing LLC dba SSS Publishing - A limited liability company formed in Nevada - Entity E0500132008-2