Chips are a mainstay of casino table games. Vintage and rare ones can now fetch a hefty price on the second-hand market. We discuss them in the article below.
The world is full of odd collectors and their collections. From rubber ducks to golf balls, people hoard the strangest of items. Many people may not know that, as well as lotto items, there is a whole world of casino collectors eager to get their hands on rare and expensive chips. But which of these are the most sought after, and most important of all, do you have any?
Casino Chip Collectors
While casinos, particularly the biggest of them, come loaded with all types of merchandise, gaming chips tend to be the most collectable.
There is even a Casino Chip and Gaming Tokens Collectors Club. They meet in huge convention halls, often attached to the biggest Vegas casinos. Here, people can buy, trade and collect these items much like people do with items of Lotology. Some of these are attended by around 2000 visitors at a time.
The joy in chips comes from their history, which is often long past. Each contains its own individual piece of art tailored to the venue it came from. Many of these establishments are now closed down, rebranded or have been taken over by large conglomerates. Thus, they allow people to step back to a different time.
Added to this is that most people now do their gaming online. There are new online casinos arriving every month. Betmaster is a newly licensed UK casino & sportsbook that provides a wealth of table games. It often has more than you could fit in a medium-sized casino, with the advantage that people can play from home. With introductory bonuses, people don’t need to go into a casino anymore. Thus, the acquisition of these items is becoming less prevalent.
The Most Valuable Chip Sales
In 2007, Erik Rosenblum put a chip up for sale that had come from the Desert Inn Casino in Las Vegas. The lawyer had visited the place in the eighties. Now defunct, he had originally not cashed in the $100 chip and kept hold of it. It sold for $20,000 at auction, and this was over 15 years ago.
Other items include a $29,000 sale on the auction site eBay of a chip from the Showboat Casino. Over 45 years old, it had been sitting in a jewellery box and was forgotten about.
There are even certain websites that specialise in the sale of these items. A quick flick through the most expensive items on one website shows that most of the top-end items go for between $500 to $1500. However, there are some that outshine this price bracket.
The Dunes Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, is one place that seems to have a lot of popular chips. The most expensive for sale is a $5 chip from 1965, which is selling for around $3500. This may be because of its vibrant, sixties graphic of the casino on its façade.
Another reason may be that the Dunes no longer stands, and was one of the most prominent casinos of the sixties golden era of Las Vegas. This was a time when Sinatra and the Rat Pack were hitting the strip. As one of the tallest hotels, its huge golden sign and logo adorning the building were a real spectacle. It had a pseudo-Arabian theme with palm trees and North African fonts, all decked out in the neon of Vegas.
Chips From Popular Culture
There are some chips that have been used in games on screen. These can also bring in a high price, not just because of their casino connection but because of their link to a movie franchise.
One of the most loved poker movies of all time was Rounders. The chips used in this movie seldom come up for sale, but they have in the past. Generally, they go for upwards of $200. Created by Atlantic Standard Moulding, they had an intricate design around the edge and featured the image of a bear in the middle. Originally, they were bought for the movie in a set of 1000 and taken afterwards by an unknown cast member.
However, no talk of casinos on screen is complete without James Bond. In the original Casino Royale book, Bond played Baccarat. However, the modern remake with Daniel Craig changed the game to poker.
Buying the chips used in the movie gets extremely expensive, mainly due to the cult audience that Bond has. One plaque sold for around £40,625. Even a set of chips alone has sold for $4,000. Most people will opt for a replacement set as a result.
Other Sought-After Casino Chips
North Korea is a communist dictatorship, and very few tourists enter each year. However, the country does have facilities for them and esteemed guests. The Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang is one of the few hotels that can be stayed in, and it features a swimming pool, wellness centre and, amongst other things, a casino. Chips from here are very rare, mainly because taking anything from he country can result in lengthy detentions.
Casino culture is bigger than ever and will continue to grow. Keep hold of the little items when you visit, as they may pay you back in the near future. Your real big win may come a long time after you have left the casino floor.
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