How to Tell the Age of Las Vegas Casino Chips
Las Vegas casino chips date back to the earliest days of the city's casinos. The state of Nevada legalized gambling in 1931. Following the example of the poker chip, individual casinos began to issue their own chips. Chips are circular tokens worth specific amounts of money. Chips possessed value only at the casino at which they were issued. As casinos modernized or went out of business, chips changed or disappeared. Today, certain old Las Vegas casino chips are worth tens of thousands of dollars.
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Instructions
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Examine the inlay of the Las Vegas chip. The inlay is the design or picture that is set into the center of the chip. The inlay most often features pictures, or logos, associated with a specific casino.
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Find the name of the casino on a list of rare chips, such as those found on the websites Casino Rarities, Old Vegas Chips and Vegas Casino Chips. Many casinos remained in business only briefly. Just two or three $25 Bonanza Casino chips are known to exist, since the hotel operated only from 1967 to 1970, and the chips were a fairly high denomination for the time.
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Compare the mold of the chip to the images of known Las Vegas chips. The mold is the pattern found on the raised edge of the chip. Distinctive mold designs identify particular chip makers. The U.S. Playing Card Company made chips from 1907 to 1939. The Burt Company manufactured chips from 1940 to 1985.
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Examine the edge spots on the chip. The edge spots look like dabs, or spots of paint, evenly distributed around the chip mold. These were used to further authenticate a chip's denomination. Compare the pattern of edge spots with those found on known examples of the same Las Vegas chip.
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Feel the chip to discover its weight and texture. While extremely old chips could be made of anything from ivory to mother of pearl, most were made of clay composition. Clay composition has a texture something like that of an earthenware figurine. After 1940, clay composition chips were sealed with polyurethane. Las Vegas chips from the 1940s onward may be of either clay composition or plastic.
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Tips & Warnings
Like coins and other collectibles, chips in good condition are normally worth more than those in poor condition. Since they were used less frequently, higher denomination Las Vegas chips tend to be better preserved. They are also more rare than the smaller denomination chips, since they were more likely to have been cashed in.
Do not assume all old chips are from Las Vegas. Always check the chips against known chips. Chips from other casino locations may be more or less in demand depending on the current market.
