Lack of chips in casinos is a common thing. Visitors often take with them some attributes of the institution: for memory or as moral damage for a loss. But there are those who purposefully keep a couple of chips for themselves, so to speak, to replenish the collection. Items in these collections can be more than just game pieces.
Collection: casino playing chips
The most private attribute in the collections of connoisseurs. It is with them that the hobby for “kleptomania” in the casino begins, and then develops into a real hobby with a significant waste of money and time. Experienced “players” know that there are special chips that have the highest value. These can be limited edition models or the very first chips from the first gambling clubs in America. Such tokens are very rare and are almost never used in games today.
The eighties of the twentieth century marked the beginning of the massive collecting of casino merchandise. America’s magazines sold old chips, and then the Casino Chip and Gaming Tokes Club was founded, in which tokens were exchanged, sold and various club events and auctions. Then the club joined the American Numismatists Association, with which it still cooperates.
It should be noted that the value of these chips is incredibly high. For example, in 2008, a $ 1 Showboat Vegas Casino token was sold on eBay for $ 29,000. At that time, such chips were not in use, they were produced back in the sixties. To maintain interest and demand for such chips, in America there are specialized publications – catalogs that give an estimated value for each product: “The Official US Casino Chip Price Guide” and “The Chip Rack”.
Collection: sports poker chips
It’s like a separate type of collecting. Some enthusiasts collect only chips that are used to play poker professionally. The price of such tokens is different and starts from a couple of dollars and ends in tens of thousands. The value is determined by the materials, the age of the token and its historical value.
Harvey Levin of New Jersey (Fort Lee) is a prominent collector. He has an impressive collection of more than 700 pieces, which he has collected and collected over forty years. Its chips were bought on eBay or purchased directly from casinos, but the cost per unit is not that high. Although the cost of the entire collection is estimated at several tens of thousands.
Collection: dice
Collecting cubes is not so easy: you cannot carry them away under the guise of the casino. Therefore, connoisseurs have to spend a lot of time and money in order to find a valuable copy on the Internet, to buy it in an institution or in collectors’ clubs.
As always, the rarer the specimen, the more expensive it is. The most valuable dice at the moment is the Flamingo dice, which features the casino logo in the form of a pink flamingo. These bones were made in the distant forties. Because of what the cost soars at times. Usually the price of cubes is negotiated during the deal, and half a thousand dollars for one pair is not the limit.
Collection: ashtrays
Probably the most banal souvenir you can think of. But ashtrays also often end up in the pockets of casino lovers. Some copies are really of high value, especially if they are made by the owners of the casino or have distinctive features of the institution, logos.
Paul Gregory was such an enthusiast. Photos of his collection have been published in Art Anderson’s book Casinos and Their Ashtrays (Casinos and Their Ashtrays). In addition, there are a couple of platforms on the Internet where people exchange or sell and purchase valuable ashtrays for a few hundred bucks.
Collection: playing cards
In many gambling establishments, standard cards are used, which do not carry special value. But there are separate casinos that produce their own decks with the company logo or some distinctive sign. Such cards are popular and have a decent value. Cards that are no longer in circulation are especially valuable.
Collection: lottery tickets
The easiest way to collect. You participate in the drawing – you leave a ticket as a keepsake. If you managed to win something – a nice bonus. Lottery tickets rarely go to auctions, and even less have a high value, except for the owner.
Collection: club cards
A fun hobby that suits both regulars and newbies to the casino. Some establishments issue club cards that form this collection.
There are a lot of collections related to gambling establishments. Their items can be any souvenirs or things with a casino logo.
