General Notes and Definitions

General:
I started this blog is to create a centralized list of known "chip finds" for more of the more rarer Nevada casino chips. It is difficult to determine if a chip that was thought to be rare is still rare or not so rare.  My hope is that this blog will be a positive resource for the chip collecting community. 

Background: 
There have been many occasions, where collectors (myself included) have paid a decent sum of money for a chip that was thought to be more rare than it is or was.  It sure is a major bummer when that happens. Sometimes the "chip find" will occur much later after the purchase and there is not much you can do with that.  Sometimes the chip find was not disclosed or the seller, even when asked directly, will not answer how many of the chips they have.  I found this mainly happens on ebay.  Most collector's and dealers are pretty forthcoming with finds, however.  

Meat or Potatoes?: 
Of course the impact of value changes based on the quantity found, the quality of the chips found and the actual chip itself.  Sometimes the find is rather small, like 4 chips found, but when only 1 or 2 or known, that can change the value a lot.  Sometimes the find is large, like the Tropicana 2nd issue chips or all the Horsesehoe chips.  There seem to be racks of those.   

The Unknown: 
One thing to warn you about. This list is not comprehensive, it really started with my own notes and pics that i saved from auctions, etc. I am probably missing quite of bit.  Feel free to post or email me if you have any.  

Also, as David Spragg pointed out, the picture may not tell the entire truth of the find.  There can be a box of 100 found, however, maybe only 13 of those chips were in "collectible" condition and rest were poor. So the chip is still fairly rare or at minimum, using a baseball card term, "condition sensitive".  This is similar to the Sands dig chips.  Most of the chip collecting community knows there are tons of Dig chips out there, but there are still chips of high value based on their condition.  

Final Point (kind of): 
My final point is the value of the chip you buy is basically what you are willing to pay.  It is not my intention with this blog to "value" a specific chip, that is something you must do on your own.  The point of this blog is to help the chip collector be aware of things that may help them do just that.    

Parting note (real final point): 
I have mixed feelings about chip finds i can't stand them when it is a chip i already own, but love them when its a chip i don't own, which generally means i can afford to buy them!  Happy chipping! 



See also my Chip Collecting blog at:  http://thecasinochipcorner.blogspot.com/

Frequently used terms:
"C&W" refers to The Official U.S Casino Chip Price Guide by James Campiglia & Steve Wells.  Includes most casino chips from Nevada and other states.  Includes estimated "rarity" ratings.  The 4th and last edition was published in 2009.  Last I heard, there were no future plans on updating this book.

"TCR" refers to: The Chip Rack by SSS Publishing.  A reference and price guide for all Nevada casino chips.  Has unique numbering system.   Under the new publishers, the book typically has been updated every year.  The 15th edition was published in 2013 and a new edition is coming out in June 2015.  

"CCGTCC" refers to The Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club.  See website for more info:  http://www.ccgtcc.com/

"TCB" refers to the Chip Board at http://www.thechipboard.com/

"MOGH" refers to the Museum of Gaming History.  

"TCG" refers to The Chip Guide, an online reference located here:  http://www.themogh.org/cg_home2.php

FIND 12-2009 Tropicana Hot Stamp chips

There have been a lot of Tropicana hot stamp chips that have been out on ebay for a little while. There are regular denominations on a H&C mold and a Non Cash Value (NCV) on the Tropicana house mold.

The regular denominations ($5, $25, $100) are all listed as R-3's in C&W. In TCR, there is a notation that there were 50 full boxes were found. That is a total of 5,000 chips. R-3 is "fairly common" with 350-750 chips known. I would say that these are more likely R-2 (751-2000) per denom.

The NCV chips are listed as follows:

1) $5 NCV, Orange, Hot Stamp, House Mold, 3 green inserts
TCR Notes: N2267 value H ($30-39)
C&W Notes: R-8, $30-$80

As you can see by the below auction, there are at least 180 chips for sale, which make these at least a R-5 C&W rarity rating.

2) $25 NCV, Grey, Hot Stamp, House Mold, 3 navy inserts
TCR Notes: E2897, value F ($20-24)
C&W Notes: R-7, $12-$24

As you can see by the below auction, there are at least 100 chips for sale, which make these a R-5 C&W rarity rating.

3) $100 NCV, Fuchsia, Hot Stamp, House Mold, 3 white inserts
TCR Notes: E-5121, Value I ($40-49)
C&W Notes: These are not even listed in the C&W guide.

As you can see by the below auction, there are at least 120 chips for sale, which make these a R-4 C&W rarity rating.

Tropicana Hot Stamp lots sold on ebay:

1) 178 of the $5, $25 and $100 chips sold for $760 on 8/03/08:















2) 400 ($5x 120, $25x 100, $100x 180) of the NCV chips sold for ___ on 12/7/09.















3) 300 ($5 x 100, $25 x 200) denom hot stamps sold for $769 on 12/9/09.

















I am not sure what the actual value of these hot stamp chips are, but I wouldn't pay "book value" at all for them. I saw about a dozen of $5 denom and $25 NCV chips in Bud Meyer's $1 box at Casinorama in San Marino a few months back.

What the real quantities of the NCV chips? Not sure, just excercise caution when buying these.

G