Almost any casino constantly leaks chips. Partly because many customers take a couple of chips with them. Most do it to keep the memory of visiting places, but some carry badges for the collection. Moreover, the game chips are not the only items used in the casino used by collectors.
We will talk in this article about casino items that may be of interest of enthusiasts.
Collecting casino chips
Of course, most people collect chips. Sometimes such a craze begins with occasional visit to casinos during the holidays abroad, and gradually develops into a hobby associated with significant financial costs and time.
Some chips used in casinos for over a hundred years, are of particular value and are pride of the owners. Usually they are chips of the first U.S. gambling clubs or chips of limited edition and not currently in use.
Popularity of collecting chips started in the eighties, when several American magazines started selling old casino chips. Later the club of Casino Chips and Gaming Tokes Club was founded, it's members could purchase chips, exchange them with each other, take part in various activities and so on. This organization works with the American Association numismatists.
The price of rare chips can reach several tens of thousands of dollars. For example, in 2008 on eBay, a chip of one dollar from Showboat Vegas Casino, that was used in the sixties, was sold for almost twenty-nine thousand dollars (and this is not the limit).
In the U.S., there are two catalogs giving a rough estimate of chips: "The Official US Casino Chip Price Guide" and "The Chip Rack".
Collecting chips used in sports poker can be considered a form of collecting casino chips, though many enthusiasts specialize in this field. Value of such chips also varies in a wide range: from a couple of dollars to several tens of thousands. It depends on the materials the chip is manufactured of, its age andhistorical value.
One of the most impressive collections of chips is a selection of Harvey Levin from Fort Lee, New Jersey. He began to collect the chips almost forty years ago, when his wife and children went on a trip to Las Vegas. He has more than seven hundred valuable chips from the casinos that operated or still operating in the different countries. Levin takes on chips directly from casinos, and buys them from collectors on eBay. Although he does not have very expensive items, the total value of his chips is tens of thousands dollars.
Collecting dices
Collect dices used in craps is more complicated than chips, because you can not just take them out of the casino. Nevertheless, they can be found online, in collectors clubs and even in the schools. As usual, the more rare dices are more expensive.
One of the most valuable dices are from the Flamingo Casino with a logo depicting a flamingo made in the late forties. However the cost of each chip is determined directly during the transaction. Five hundred dollars for a pair of dice is not the highest price.
Collecting ashtrays
Many casino produce their own branded ashtrays or even decorate standard ones with their logos. Sometimes these products can be sold in souvenir shops at large casinos, but usually players take them along when leaving a casino.
If you think that nobody collects casino ashtrays, you are mistaken. a few large web sites are devoted to this hobby and enthusiast Art Anderson even wrote a book "Casinos and Their Ashtrays". It is illustrated with photographs from the collection of Paul Gregory. Some items cost several hundred dollars.
Collecting Playing Cards
Most casinos use standard cards of well-known manufacturers. However some casinos periodically release branded decks, which are in great demand among casual players and collectors of all kinds of casino items. cards that are not produced anymore and therefore disappeared from circulation are in high demand.
Collecting lottery tickets
Some customers also take tickets for participating in all sorts of drawings in casinos. Some often players in casinos have an impressive collection. The author even knows a person who collected several dozen tickets he won some prizes for. For him, this selection was associated exclusively with pleasant memories.
Collecting club cards
This is another interesting object for enthusiasts interested in casino items. Many places give out membership cards not only to regular, but also new players, so some fans have a big collection, though they almost never played for money.
Conclusion
Other items sometimes collected by collectors include various souvenirs. It can be matchboxes, lighters, shear maps and other items with casino logos.
If among the readers of Casinoz there are collectors of casino items, we'd love to hear their stories about this hobby.
