Casino Chip of the Day

Well, that was a long enough post, but as I added the link to the table in Post #1 of this thread, I thought of one more comment I should have made. Today's Casino Chip of the Day marks the half-way point in my current collection of chips from Nevada. I have a total of 145 Nevada casinos represented, and the Las Vegas Club is the 73rd one that I have posted in this thread -- 72 previous and 72 yet to come, plus any more that I add in the future.

It took a little under three months to get half way through the first state that I am covering, though Nevada does dominate my collection. And I only took two trips during that period that caused gaps in the daily posts. I don't know my schedule for future trips, but I still think this is a topic that can prove interesting for quite a while. Can you imagine how long this thread should survive after I turn responsibility over to rdw4potus and his much larger collection?

Quote: Doc

Why is there never a reliable historian around when you want one?

For what it's worth, I think I am not alone in saying that I don't have the same level of interest in the historial minutia as you, but it's still fascinating reading. Keep up the good work. And I both feel your pain and get a chuckle from your frustration regarding the contradicions found from your "reliable sources."

Quote: Doc

I don't even know what that pattern on the center inlay is supposed to mean. To me, it looks a bit like a golf green, with an asterisk or star marking the pin location. Or is that a Trekkie insignia with the points worn down?

It's certainly not Trekkie.

My immediate reaction was that it reminded me of that "futuristic" look that dominated the 1950's and 1960's, best represented by The Jetsons.

I think it's a rather cool looking $1 chip and it alone is giving me reason to stop at the LVC on my next trip. By the way, isn't "LVC" the current name-du-jour?

Quote: Doc

Can you imagine how long this thread should survive after I turn responsibility over to rdw4potus and his much larger collection?

Wow. Are you sure he WANTS it? That sounded like he just got drafted! LOL.

Quote: Doc

I think that I personally have spent less time gambling in the Las Vegas Club than I have spent cutting through the place to get from the FSE canopy to the California and on to Main Street Station.

So many people do that, it's a wonder Boyd hasn't acquired the property already...

Quote:

Or is that a Trekkie insignia with the points worn down?

Definitely not a Starfleet insignia. But I think the Plaza, a sister property, uses a similar design in its logo.

And to update my post count (LOL), as well as play catch up, here's my chips from Harrah's.

I have no idea if the series was limited to three chips. It's not listed in the MOGH.

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All three chips have this same back:

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Note that they were all photographed on the same greenish background. I definately have issues with color....

Here's my Las Vegas Club chip. I'm pretty sure I've only been there the one time. I was somewhat impressed by the establishment. I'd expected it to be a tired downtown hole-in-the-wall like Gold Spike. It was instead a step above that, featuring what looked like newish video slots.

I'm happy to take over the thread next year when Doc's collection is exhausted:-) I suppose I should start thinking of ways to keep straight which of my chips have already been covered.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

... By the way, isn't "LVC" the current name-du-jour?

Well, as shown on your downtown map, the logo says, "LVC Las Vegas Club Hotel and Casino", and their web site is vegasclubcasino.net, so I just thought the initials were a logo thing with "Las Vegas Club" still being the name. The 5/3/12 edition of those NGCB documents I mentioned do still say "Las Vegas Club Hotel and Casino", so I can't really be too far out of date.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

... I definately have issues with color....

Don't let Jessie Jackson find out.

And yes, I do understand that few if any people reading this thread really care about the trivia. I just think some of it is amusing, particularly when things seem to get outrageously and unnecessarily (?) complex.

As for drafting rdw4potus to keep this thread alive when my chip well runs dry, I've already mentioned that to him, but until that post right above, I'm not sure he had actually accepted. I think that about next January we will need to start working on who wants to post their Doc-didn't-have-this-casino-covered chips. I know Nareed has mentioned that she has some. You, Johnzimbo, Lucyjr and others have posted chips already, too. Beardgoat has been trying to but doesn't seem to have worked out the image-posting issues quite yet. I just mentioned rdw4potus because he has hundreds more casinos represented in his collection than I do.

As a collaborative effort, we should keep this chip-of-the-day thing going for years, and the important/interesting thing is that we only post images of chips that members here actually have in hand, not some photos out of a museum archive.

Quote: rdw4potus

I'm happy to take over the thread next year when Doc's collection is exhausted:-) I suppose I should start thinking of ways to keep straight which of my chips have already been covered.

Thanks for "volunteering". Good idea about starting to keep track. Maybe the table in Post #1 will be of use to you in finding what you have posted.

And thanks for today's $5 chip. The MOGH catalog identifies that chip as having been issued in 2008 and says that it has the Long Cane Version logo on one side and the Short Cane Version on the other. Is yours like that? If not, maybe (like DJTeddyBear) you have a chip that is not in that catalog.

Quote: rdw4potus

Here's my Las Vegas Club chip. I'm pretty sure I've only been there the one time. I was somewhat impressed by the establishment. I'd expected it to be a tired downtown hole-in-the-wall like Gold Spike. It was instead a step above that, featuring what looked like newish video slots.

It also feels mroe wide opne than most other casinos. Alas, it's a bit noisy for my tastes.

In additiont to using it as a passage to the Cal, all I did there was play the electronic version of UTH.

Quote:

I suppose I should start thinking of ways to keep straight which of my chips have already been covered.

Just look them up in the index at the start of the thread.

Quote: Nareed

Just look them up in the index at the start of the thread.

Yes, I'm realizing that it's much easier than I originally thought. Doc has posted some chips that I don't have, and I was worried that would pose a problem. Of course, it doesn't. Those casinos are covered and don't need to be covered again, whether or not I have their chips.

I have been hitting the Las Vegas Club off and on for 30 years. Here are my chips...note that only the newest one actually lists the city, the older ones simply say "casino center" or "downtown casino center"









I have fond memories of the place. It is the only casino where I almost got 86'ed because security thought I was gonna steal quarters from my blind friend, where I saw two cocktail waitresses almost come to blows, and where I saw a crack pipe above the closet in my room. Good times!

Quote: Doc

As for drafting rdw4potus to keep this thread alive when my chip well runs dry, I've already mentioned that to him, but until that post right above, I'm not sure he had actually accepted. I think that about next January we will need to start working on who wants to post their Doc-didn't-have-this-casino-covered chips. I know Nareed has mentioned that she has some. You, Johnzimbo, Lucyjr and others have posted chips already, too. Beardgoat has been trying to but doesn't seem to have worked out the image-posting issues quite yet. I just mentioned rdw4potus because he has hundreds more casinos represented in his collection than I do.

As a collaborative effort, we should keep this chip-of-the-day thing going for years, and the important/interesting thing is that we only post images of chips that members here actually have in hand, not some photos out of a museum archive.

I have some SoCal chips. I have actually been taking pictures of some of my cashouts which include $100 and larger chips, although I cannot afford to collect such large denominations. Would you be interested in these pictures of $500 and $1000 chips if I am not actually collecting them? Also, are you interested in chips from player banked games at casinos like Hollywood Park, Oceans 11, etc?

Johzimbo: You may have been hitting the Las Vegas Club for 30 years, but some of your chips are quite a bit older than that! Does your guide agree with the following info I found in the MOGH catalog?

(1) The 25¢ chip is from the 1970s, and which chip in the catalog it is specifically depends upon whether it is white or light gray -- I suspect that if I had a "white" chip from the 70s, it would look a very grungy gray by now. Come to think of it, I do have one, but I am confident that it was gray even back in the 70s when I got it.

(2) The blue chip with the yellow edge inserts but without the baseball image on the center inlay is the "old" one -- it was issued in 1968!

(3) The one with the baseball player and the blackjack and with "Downtown" added to "Casino Center" is from the 1980s.

(4) While those first three are clearly Paulson chips, the fourth one with the baseball field image and the identification of "Las Vegas" is from Bud Jones and was issued in 1996.

A lot of the Las Vegas Club chips in the MOGH catalog have that baseball theme on the center inlay, and I have no idea about the relevance to that casino. Any ideas?

Thanks for sharing those with us!

Quote: Doc

A lot of the Las Vegas Club chips in the MOGH catalog have that baseball theme on the center inlay, and I have no idea about the relevance to that casino. Any ideas?

I think the casino had some sort of sports theme until fairly recently.

bigfoot66:

Yes, so long as you have had the chips yourself long enough to be taking photos of them, I suppose they qualify for the "rules" I had in mind. I just didn't want people gathering images from file libraries or eBay auctions and posting them here. I have collected chips from the tribal casinos in southern California and will be posting those not too long after I complete the Nevada set -- I plan to cover the other states alphabetically. Please do post your chips from those casinos when the thread gets to that point.

I have not collected chips from the card rooms, so those won't be showing up until we are completely through with my collection. I certainly have no objection to you or anyone else posting chips from any kind of casino. We will just need to organize the process a little, or I think it could turn into bedlam. That's why I mentioned turning responsibility over to rdw4potus. Eventually, we should be able to post every chip from every member, though we perhaps should keep trying to avoid duplicates. (Gee, how long will it take to get them all at a rate of one casino per day?)

Quote: Doc

(Gee, how long will it take to get them all at a rate of one casino per day?)

The number of casinos divided by 30.42 yields the time in months, assuming no day passes without one casino being posted.

I spend way too much time in the Vegas Club (as RogerKint can attest, since he ran into me playing there). It is a dump; possibly the most depressing casino on the planet. It was actually on the upswing while the Plaza was closed, but now that the Plaza is open again it is back to even worse squalor. Just smell the air as you walk in: some combination of cleaning fluid, mildew, and spilled draft Coors. The entire back area is filled with broken slot machines stacked on top of each other, and the only restaurant left in the property has closed. Jeez, it's bringing me down just writing about it...

Oh, and I haven't written yet about the ridiculous heat my friend and I got when I got him signed up for new member promotion, and played on his card. You would have thought we were the Tran Mob!

Quote: Doc

bigfoot66:

Yes, so long as you have had the chips yourself long enough to be taking photos of them, I suppose they qualify for the "rules" I had in mind. I just didn't want people gathering images from file libraries or eBay auctions and posting them here. I have collected chips from the tribal casinos in southern California and will be posting those not too long after I complete the Nevada set -- I plan to cover the other states alphabetically. Please do post your chips from those casinos when the thread gets to that point.

I have not collected chips from the card rooms, so those won't be showing up until we are completely through with my collection. I certainly have no objection to you or anyone else posting chips from any kind of casino. We will just need to organize the process a little, or I think it could turn into bedlam. That's why I mentioned turning responsibility over to rdw4potus. Eventually, we should be able to post every chip from every member, though we perhaps should keep trying to avoid duplicates. (Gee, how long will it take to get them all at a rate of one casino per day?)

I've been to every currently-operating casino and card club in CA south of I80. There are a couple that I need to return to in order to collect chips, but there should be no problem getting in anyone's chips from the card clubs in CA.

Quote: teddys

Oh, and I haven't written yet about the ridiculous heat my friend and I got when I got him signed up for new member promotion, and played on his card. You would have thought we were the Tran Mob!

I like the gaming joke here. I did the same thing with my friend and no issues. they offered us 2 copies of his card so i could help him get the big bonus.

Quote: Doc

Johzimbo: You may have been hitting the Las Vegas Club for 30 years, but some of your chips are quite a bit older than that! Does your guide agree with the following info I found in the MOGH catalog?

(1) The 25¢ chip is from the 1970s, and which chip in the catalog it is specifically depends upon whether it is white or light gray -- I suspect that if I had a "white" chip from the 70s, it would look a very grungy gray by now. Come to think of it, I do have one, but I am confident that it was gray even back in the 70s when I got it.

(2) The blue chip with the yellow edge inserts but without the baseball image on the center inlay is the "old" one -- it was issued in 1968!

(3) The one with the baseball player and the blackjack and with "Downtown" added to "Casino Center" is from the 1980s.

(4) While those first three are clearly Paulson chips, the fourth one with the baseball field image and the identification of "Las Vegas" is from Bud Jones and was issued in 1996.

Unfortunately my guide lists the chips in issue order but doesn't include dates of those issues. BTW, I wish the MOGH site listed chips in issue order...anyone else feel this way?

Just in trying to post this thread in an organized fashion, I have respect for the difficulty in presenting something like the MOGH catalog in any way at all. I think I like the sequence by denomination, but having them in date order within denomination would perhaps be better, and I understand that for some people a strict chronological sequence would be better.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Hilton

Kirk Kirkorian, whose casino interests are typically associated with MGM these days, opened the world's largest hotel in Las Vegas in 1969, calling it the International Hotel. It was sold to Hilton in 1970 and renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in 1971. It was also featured in a 1971 film (Title anyone?) as the Whyte House.

There were several corporate changes: split off of Hilton Gaming, merger with Bally Entertainment, renaming as Park Place Entertainment, and renaming as Caesars Entertainment (after purchasing the Caesars properties). Then, Caesars sold the Las Vegas Hilton to Colony Capital in 2004. The NGCB documents indicate that the official name of the owner is Colony Resorts LVH Acquisitions, with the ownership of that entity split to four corporations.

Yes, there have been complications. With a variety of negative financial issues and the loss of the license to the Hilton name, the Las Vegas Hilton recently became known as the Las Vegas Hotel. Like there is only one hotel in that city. Sorta like yesterday's Casino Chip of the Day being from the only Las Vegas "Club". Why hasn't anyone built a casino on South Las Vegas Boulevard and named it the "Las Vegas Strip"? Think of all the Google searches that would come their way!

It seems appropriate that a hotel that was once the biggest in the world would have out front the world's largest freestanding sign – that fan-shaped behemoth that said "Hilton" until this past January.

While it's a little remote from the strip excitement, the Las Vegas Hilton has/had an excellent location for convention business, right at the end of the Monorail and adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Since I have never been to Las Vegas for a convention, or to do work of any kind, this is completely irrelevant for me. I'm strictly in town for fun.

The place does have a history of providing exceptional entertainment though. Barbra Streisand performed for the hotel's opening night in 1969, and Elvis Presley performed there numerous times. I think the main venue was still called the Elvis Presley Theater until quite recently. Quite a few big-time boxing matches were held at the Las Vegas Hilton, too.

I'm more small-time. My wife and I attended a show by the Smothers Brothers in the main theater, and one of the times that we saw the Scintas perform, they were in the cabaret theater there. The LV Hilton also hosted the Star Trek Experience for a decade and had an adjoining Quark's Bar, where we dined several times. Fun, if a bit over the top.

The chip shown below is a Bud Jones chip with the BJ logo clearly visible on the left. Except for color differences, this appears to be the same mold pattern that was used for the previously posted chips from Club Fortune and Hacienda. Unfortunately, unlike the others this one does not have anything interesting revealed by UV light.

The photo on the center inlay was taken from the front of the property or possibly across the street from in front of the Turnberry Place condominiums. I can't really tell whether that is Paradise Road or the property's own Avenue of the Hiltons in the foreground. Did they recently have to rename that road, too? According to the MOGH catalog, the chip was issued in 2005.

As you post your Las Vegas Hilton chips, please also include any International Hotel chips you have, since I have none. Let's leave chips with the current name of the hotel-casino until this thread gets there -- very, very soon.

Quote: Doc

The LV Hilton also hosted the Star Trek Experience for a decade and had an adjoining Quark's Bar, where we dined several times. Fun, if a bit over the top.

A bit? Well, for Trekkies the attraction wasn't good. It was perfect. Consider:

1) A rather good, easy to see prop colelction, with captions, photos and encompassing all the series.
2) Actors in costume, not representing specific characters but specific types of Trek "races." And they were fun.
3) You got to experience using a transporter
4) You got to stand on the bridge of the freaking Enterprise!
5) there was some kind of rather good ride/show
6) The Promenade Shop did look like it belonged on DS9 and it was loaded with Trek merchandise.

Really, someone should have retaken the attraction by now...

I collected this chip from the Las Vegas Hilton in October of 2010. Then, I decided that I wanted to make sure all of my chips were non-collectible versions. Then, Las Vegas Hilton was sold and the name was changed. Then, I returned to Vegas (and picked up an LVH chip). So, this is one of the only collectible chips that is still in my collection - at least not without a companion "normal" chip. On the one hand, it's a pretty chip. On the other hand, it's not a "normal" chip.

Quote: rdw4potus

On the one hand, it's a pretty chip. On the other hand, it's not a "normal" chip.

I'm puzzled by the North Korean flag.

Quote: Nareed

I'm puzzled by the North Korean flag.

Are you puzzled by it's inclusion? It's a commemorative chip from the 2010 world cup, which the North Korean team played in.

Quote: rdw4potus

Are you puzzled by it's inclusion? It's a commemorative chip from the 2010 world cup, which the North Korean team played in.

Well, that explains the flag. But why commemorate a soccer event? :P

Yes, rdw4potus, that chip was issued in 2010 to commemorate the World Soccer Tournament. The MOGH illustration of the other side shows a player diving to make a kick.

It is difficult to see because of all the the flags, but it appears that the chip has "Hilton" and the "H" logo molded three times around the perimeter. There are quite a few $5 commemoratives that use the same basic chip with different center inlays. I cannot see anything on your chip or the MOGH illustrations that reveals the manufacturer, but I would not be surprised if there were a top hat and cane that would be revealed by UV. You don't happen to have a black light handy, do you?

Quote: Nareed

Well, that explains the flag. But why commemorate a soccer event? :P

Why not?

Maybe the Hilton was doing something special for the world cup.

Plus, it will cause a lot of people to spend $5 on a souvenir that cost the casino 35¢.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Why not?

A reasonable explanation, for me, would likely result in your blocking me again.

Quote:

Plus, it will cause a lot of people to spend $5 on a souvenir that cost the casino 35¢.

That I'll buy for a reasonable explanation, for the casino.

Quote: Doc

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Hilton

Kirk Kirkorian, whose casino interests are typically associated with MGM these days, opened the world's largest hotel in Las Vegas in 1969, calling it the International Hotel. It was sold to Hilton in 1970 and renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in 1971. It was also featured in a 1971 film (Title anyone?) as the Whyte House.

That film would be "Diamonds Are Forever" starring Sean Connery as James Bond. Loved the car chase in downtown as well as the scene in the newly opened Circus Circus.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Maybe the Hilton was doing something special for the world cup.

They do have that giant sportsbook...:-)

I'm frustrated by my collection and/or photobucket at this point. This chip image is titled "las vegas hilton reverse," which is my terminology for when there's also a picture of the front of the chip. I'll be damned if I can find it, but yes, Doc's right that it shows a soccer player.

As you may recall, I had posted my $5 Hooters chip on the correct day. However, I discovered that my $1 chip is different than Doc's. So, as I continue to catch up, here's my $1 Hooters chip:

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My chip as the same image on the front and back, and has a visible Paulson logo.

Reminder. Here's Doc's chip:


And because I re-shot the $5 chip, here's that again, too.

Quote: Doc

Just in trying to post this thread in an organized fashion, I have respect for the difficulty in presenting something like the MOGH catalog in any way at all. I think I like the sequence by denomination, but having them in date order within denomination would perhaps be better, and I understand that for some people a strict chronological sequence would be better.

I suspect most folks don't know the date of issue, so it is not a good initial index value. Other characteristics (casino, denomination, manufacturer) help to readily identify a chip, especially since the date of issue isn't incorporated into the chip itself, (and is not reliably sourced). However, I agree that it would be nice to be able to sort the images by date of issue in order to see the evolution and change over time.

Quote: Doc

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Hilton

The LV Hilton also hosted the Star Trek Experience for a decade and had an adjoining Quark's Bar, where we dined several times. Fun, if a bit over the top.

One of my distinct Vegas memories is the time I dragged Mrs. carumba out to Las Vegas to attend the grand opening of the Star Trek Experience. She enjoys "The Next Generation" much more than me, and I am particular to the original series much more than her. Unfortunately, interest in the event was high, and so were the room prices at the Hilton. We ended up at the Stardust. The opening day tickets for the, "Experience" went quickly, and the earliest "entry" time I was able to get was 2:30 in the morning. I figured we would get there early in the evening, check out the festivities, and maybe see some stars. However, my wife was tired after the drive, and wanted to take a short nap, which turned into several hours of sleep. Meanwhile, I was stewing at the Stardust casino debating whether or not to leave her behind. I finally woke her at 11, and by the time I dragged her over there, it was after midnight. The place was still packed, and some celebrities were sighted (James Doohan, "Mr. Scott", playing high limit slots; Chase Masterson (Leeta, the Dabo girl from DS9), but the opening ceremony was way over, and even I was feeling exhausted with another hour and a half to go until our entry time. We ended up drifting around the casino, but the time passed very slowly.

The table games were not open yet, but they did have slots that were using dedicated tokens:


When we finally were able to get on line, there was so much to see along the path leading up to the actual ride, that I took over an hour to look at everything. Mrs. carumba was officially dying. The attraction itself was great, but by the time we got out of there, it was light outside. We were both out of it for the next two days. Mrs. carumba and I still talk about that trip. It is funny how our memories of the events differ.

It is too bad they weren't able to relocate it after the close a few years ago. Downtown's Neonopolis was rumoured as a possibility, but like everything good associated with that place, it fell through.

Quote: rdw4potus

I'm frustrated by my collection and/or photobucket at this point. This chip image is titled "las vegas hilton reverse," which is my terminology for when there's also a picture of the front of the chip. I'll be damned if I can find it, but yes, Doc's right that it shows a soccer player.

I know that I can't look at the full directory of your chip images, but can't you? Are they not in alphabetical order? How can the image be hiding from you in an alphabetical list? Must be something I don't understand about photobucket. Could the image have slipped into a different directory?

Quote: Doc

I know that I can't look at the full directory of your chip images, but can't you? Are they not in alphabetical order? How can the image be hiding from you in an alphabetical list? Must be something I don't understand about photobucket. Could the image have slipped into a different directory?

I can see a list with thumbnails. It's 23 pages long, and there's no short-cut to the middle (we're on page 11 right now). Oddly, it's reverse-alphabetical. I think there was a problem when I copied my most recent photos. I copied over an entire folder of images, including many that were 2-per-chip. It looks like Photobucket only has 1 image per chip in the list. I have a few more pictures to take now, so once the new pictures are taken I'll try to move over the other missing pics and the new ones.

I finally got around to downloading the May edition of the NGCB Chip and Token Report. It shows some new chips were approved in May for The D, including $1, $5, $100, $500, and $1,000. There is no hint in the report regarding a $25 chip. Previously, I had only seen approval of promo chips and roulette chips. They also approved $1, $5, and $10 tokens -- who issues new tokens these days and why?

If anyone sees new chips in use at The D, please let me know. (I'm looking at you, NicksGamingStuff, but I'll accept news from anyone who has it.)


Edit: There were also tokens approved for the Mirage. Are these just for token collectors? The Mirage tokens are brass clad and show Terry Fator puppets. The ones for The D just show their logo, but then there weren't any old ones.

Quote: Doc

They also approved $1, $5, and $10 tokens -- who issues new tokens these days and why?

The D has a lot of old slot and VP machines in a large room upstairs from the casino, along with the sports book.. They all have bill acceptors, I think, but they also take coins. Well, at least the old, old DW video poker machine I played did (I actually dropped a few nickels into it). I also saw a few pay off in coins. It could be they want to bring back tokens as well, as these machines don't print cash-out vouchers. There are even large plastic cups available.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Hotel

So what the heck am I supposed to say about the Las Vegas Hotel after just yesterday posting everything I could come up with about the Las Vegas Hilton including the fact that it is now known as the Las Vegas Hotel? Perhaps I could mention that the change officially happened on January 3rd of this year.

I posted yesterday that the owner of the hotel-casino since 2004 has been Colony Resorts LVH Acquisitions, with four corporations sharing ownership of that entity. (I checked again, and it's really three corporations plus an individual who owns 1% of it.) I think that name was created in 2004 with the idea that "LVH" was a convenient shortening of "Las Vegas Hilton". Once the right to use the Hilton name was lost, they started referring to the place as simply LVH, and I suppose it's nice to have a name that goes along with the abbreviation. Voila! – Las Vegas Hotel.

The new chip is a blue Paulson hat and cane design with three wide edge inserts in different colors. One side of the chip (first image) has the Short Cane Version of the logo and the other has the Long Cane version. Until starting this thread, I had never noticed that feature, and now we have seen several chips that are like that. The center inlay has a photo of the hotel from a different perspective than the one that was on yesterday's Bud Jones chip. Rather than a view from the west (out on one side or the other of Paradise Road), this one shows an image from the south, with the pool in the foreground.

Not that it is important, but I thought I would note that the Y-configuration of the hotel has wings of three greatly different lengths. It is easy to miss this when looking at a photo (such as on either the LV Hilton or LV Hotel chip), since it is disguised by the viewing perspective. Check the aerial view on Google Maps. In contrast, the basic Y-shapes of Mirage, Treasure Island, Monte Carlo, Venetian, and Rio have much more uniform lengths to their wings, and even the Bellagio has three almost equal wings if you consider the main curve of the tower as two wings.

There is no hidden image on this chip that I can see revealed by UV light, but the blue clay fluoresces all over, and the edge inserts change color: the yellow and orange ones turn brown, while the brown one turns black.

As I continue to play catch up ... Hey! I'm all caught up!

I DO have more chips to post, but I'll wait and post them on the same day as you.

Quote: Doc

One side of the chip (first image) has the Short Cane Version of the logo and the other has the Long Cane version.

It's funny, but had you not said that, I would have thought you posted both sides to discuss the OTHER difference.

The insert on the left was cut off-center.

One reason it is noticable because the $1 on the left is on the edge, but there's space on the right. Of course, if we weren't comparing, we'd never notice.

On the other hand, a more obvious indicator of the bad cut is that the upper left part of the photo stops before the edge of the inlay while the upper right part does not.

I'm quite shocked at this. Any first year graphics art student learns to create art that "bleeds" beyond the cutting point, to prevent the kind of white space seen here if the item is not cut correctly.

Here's my LVH chip. I enjoyed playing there, thought it was a little less half-assed than the Hilton was at the end. Sadly, the dealers (yes, plural) commented on how cruel and incompetent the new management team was. Not exactly a good sign for the continued success of what was then a 2 month old establishment...

Interestingly, the photo in the background of the $5 appears to be the same shot as is on the $1, except it's more "squared off."

Upon closer examination, it's actually a smaller size than the $1 photo. Could it be that on the $5 chip, they used the enire image, but enlarged it on the $1 chip so the image extends to the edge of the inlay?

If so, I gotta again wonder why the $1 didn't include a bleeding image to avoid that white zone I talked about above.

And why would they enlarge it on one and not the other? It's not like these chips were ordered at different times, giving the artist a chance to make revisions, is it?

Weird....

Thanks for the chip image, rdw4potus.

I think these new LVH chips are interesting in the design decisions they made. They are from the same manufacturer and have almost identical center inlays, not counting the denomination. It certainly sounds like a uniform set of new chips. I would have expected all of the chips to be the same basic design, just with different clay colors. However, they have the $1 chip with SCV on one side and LCV on the other (with 3 edge inserts) but the $5 chip is the RHC version with 2 edge inserts. So what do I know anyway ....

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Longhorn

When I posted my token from the Bighorn Casino much earlier in this thread, I commented that I didn't remember anything about the place. Consider the first two comments that I got in reply:

Quote: duckmankilla

As far as bighorn goes, it's pretty much a hole in the wall type joint and I'm not surprised that you don't remember it.

Quote: bigfoot66

One more thing that would recommend the Bighorn is that it is much less dumpy than its sister property, the Longhorn on Boulder Highway.

Perhaps those comments are enough to suggest the nature of the casino from which we get today's Casino Chip of the Day.

As was the case for the Bighorn, I can find no Longhorn web site and no Wikipedia page. Until yesterday afternoon, the Longhorn area of this WoV forum had had no posts in more than a year and only eight of them ever.

The MOGH catalog says the place opened in 1988, but the NGCB document says the license was not issued until 1/1/89. I suspect that MOGH is in error rather than the possibility that the casino opened without a license. The catalog shows some 50¢ chips but none in the $1 denomination, not even a token like the one I am posting. As for an issue date, that one is easy this time, since the token itself says 1997.

In summary, I didn't find a lot of information about the Longhorn, but I developed the impression that if information were available, it wouldn't really be very interesting.

On the other hand, I found some really neat trivia (interesting at least to me) about another company that is relevant to this post, so I thought I would ramble on about that. Click on the first image of the token below and in the larger image look for the mint mark, right beneath the "Las Vegas, Nev." It's a little difficult to make out, since it is worn, but it is a blending of the three letters, G D C, into something resembling a triskelion.

That logo stands for Green Duck Corporation, and I had a lot of fun learning about that firm. I'm posting some links to articles I found, and you might enjoy reading a few of them. I'll just relate a few things I picked up.

The company was founded in 1906 by two Chicago men, George G. Greenburg and Harvey Ducgheisel. For their new firm they chose the name "Greenduck", which was how the first syllables of each of their last names were spoken. They had intended the name to be one word, but so many people used it as two words that the company itself adopted that form, becoming Green Duck Metal Stamping Company. They produced an extremely wide range of products, including novelties, political pins/buttons, license plates, fraternity medals, and most anything that could be stamped from metal.

One of their more intriguing products was based on the "cricket" clicker that they offered as a child's toy. A variant that they made and sold to the military was used as a signaling device during the D-Day invasion – two clicks = American, four clicks = warning of German soldier in the vicinity. One problem was that the double click was said to sound like the cocking of the German Mauser rifle.

Green Duck changed ownership and moved from Chicago to Hernando, MS in 1962 (though one source says 1975), adding "Corporation" to the name about the same time. They produced their first casino token in 1983. There are references to the company on the web as "Green Duck Mint", but I'm not sure that it ever operated under that name, just as a metal stamping business that minted some tokens. The company was purchased by the Birmingham Mint Group of the UK in 1988, and U.S. operations shut down in 1999.

The best story I have come up with about their casino business relates to contracts for destruction of old tokens and chips. In 2008, construction workers in Hernando were starting on a new community center at the site of the old factory. They dug up a 4 ft. x 8 ft. concrete slab that was 4 feet thick, according to the report. Four inches thick seems more reasonable to me. Underneath, they found buried a huge supply of tokens from the defunct Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. Such tokens had been selling at a premium on eBay until the "found" ones hit the market. New Jersey authorities demanded an investigation into why the tokens had not been destroyed. Former executives of Green Duck had conflicting memories, as might be expected.

As a side note to this side note (buried tokens) on a side note (Green Duck) of the tale of the Longhorn – you do remember we were talking about the Longhorn, don't you? – the Atlantic City casino ceased to be the Playboy in 1984 when Playboy Enterprises was unsuccessful in obtaining a permanent license from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. It subsequently failed under a couple of other names/owners and was torn down in 2000. It took almost a quarter century from closing the Playboy until the tokens were unearthed.

Here are some links to articles I found about Green Duck:
Coinbooks.org about company history
Creative Pro, including excerpts from a catalog of Green Duck products
Auction site about Green Duck history and products
Casino Times about Playboy tokens found
Global Gaming News about Playboy tokens found

Please post your Longhorn chips now, but let's leave the Playboy chips until the thread gets to New Jersey. And to someone else's collection that might include something relevant.



So how many people knew what a triskelion was when I used that word to describe the mint mark? Never let it be said that I don't try to make this thread educational!


Edit (10/6/17): After all these years, I am trying to replace the tokens in my collection with $1 chips if they are now available (and with $5 chips if the place is still using $1 tokens.) As part of that effort, I now have collected a $1 chip from the Longhorn casino. This is a Paulson RHC chip, and it appears that perhaps the base material fluoresces enough to make it look white, with the gold hot stamp masking the glow a bit, and with the edge inserts not really fluorescing at all.

Quote: Doc

As was the case for the So how many people knew what a triskelion was when I used that word to describe the mint mark? Never let it be said that I don't try to make this thread educational!

Until 5 minutes ago, I thought it merely was a random word begining with "Tri," used as the name of the planet in the Star Trek episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion."

Upon research, it appears that there is a reason the yellow bands on the floor of the arena are bent as they are:



Educational? There's a LOT of educational stuff in this thread.

By the way, because of a lack of symetry, I don't think the logo on the token counts as a triskelion.

Quote: Doc

So how many people knew what a triskelion was when I used that word to describe the mint mark? Never let it be said that I don't try to make this thread educational!

You're going heavy on Trek references :)

A certain rather well-known episode of the orignal sereis has some of the crew forcibly engaged in gladiatorial-style fights for the amusement, and wagering, of some aliens. It's titled "The Gamesters of Triskelion." Some real triskelions are shown in that ep.

I didn't really intend for "triskelion" to be a Star Trek reference, but I did expect people (around here) to come up with that connection. DJTeddyBear is correct that the GDC logo is not a true triskelion, but it reminded me of one. I don't remember where on-line I found this version of the logo, but perhaps you can see enough similarity to the triskelion image I found at Wikipedia to understand why I would draw the connection.






Isn't it amazing how far I can distract the conversation when I'm supposed to be discussing a blah-looking token from a not-very-memorable-casino? At least I started off the thread by saying in post #1 that along with the chip image I would be posting "some comment about the chip and/or the casino and/or some extraneous issue that the chip brings to my mind." I think I covered a lot of bases with that disclaimer.

Quote: Doc

I didn't really intend for "triskelion" to be a Star Trek reference, but I did expect people (around here) to come up with that connection.

I can say that before reading your post, I'd never come upon the word "triskelion" in any connection other than the old Trek episode. Add the recent mention of the Trek attraction in connection with the LV Hilton and the LV Not-a-Hilton, and it's innevitbale to keep bringing up Trek.

Not that other Trek eps don't have something to do with gambling. I vaguely recall one where Kirk brings up poker, specifically a bluff, in the solution to the weekly crisis. On TNG the poker game was a regular feature, and Data used it once to pass along messages inside a time loop. On DS9 there was Quark's casino, and an episode with a device that shifted probabilities. Oh, well.

Quote: Nareed

I can say that before reading your post, I'd never come upon the word "triskelion" in any connection other than the old Trek episode.

I don't recall when I first saw that Star Trek episode, but I suspect it was a re-run, since I didn't follow the series when it was originally on. However, more than 35 years ago, I was working in the field of synthetic fibers, and we were manufacturing yarns with triskelion-shaped filaments. Most of the references to that stuff I can find on-line are .pdf files of patents. I don't think I realized at the time what an ancient and steeped-in-symbolism geometric figure it is.

On the other hand, does anyone have anything to say about the Longhorn casino? It isn't necessary that my distractions completely derail the intent of the thread.