| Its a nice sampler...
I saw that you picked these up from a For Sale post on thechipboard.com. Welcome to the Slippery Slope of an intoxicating hobby!
The chips you will be receiving from CCGTCC, Inc. Club Member Kevin represent a nice selection of a variety of live-action and other poker chips.
The $1 Excalibur (Chipco) is from a cruise to no where operation in Florida. I believe they are now out-of-business.
The 10 (Chipco, I think) is from a card room in Washington State.
The $1 Boardwalk (PaulSon) is now obsolete, as the Boardwalk is now closed.
The blue angel on a bicycle is an antique poker chip made by United States Playing Card company, perhaps in the 20's or 30's.
The Hilton is current issue $1 (Bud Jones)
The Vichy (BandG, I think) is called a jeton (French) and I suspect that it is obsolete.
$1 Casino St. Charles (Bud Jones) is one of two varieties of the $1 chip from this now closed casino. (The other one has a smaller "S1".)
$1 Riviera (PaulSon) is a current issue chip.
.25 cent Nevada Palace (PaulSon) is a nice current fractional.
$1 Caesars Palace (PaulSon) is one that I would like to have! Caesars originally issued this chip some years ago (5 or so) and after a few years they tried to not use them. When a $1 was needed, they used a $1 token. As they became worn, Caesars would destroy them, but did not replace them. After a while, they were simply no longer available. The collectors even thought they were obsolete, but they have always been legal tender at the casino. Anyway, late last year Caesars opened a poker room and this caused them to re-order the $1, as well as getting a $3 and a $10. They also re-ordered the $5. However, all the new $1's and $5's are now a variation of the other $1's and $5's because the new ones have a slightly different chariot logo on the inlay, and the inlays are smooth. The older ones have cross-hatching on the inlays (across the entire surface of the chip actually) and the newer ones only have it on the non inlay part.
I do not know which version you are getting (not enough detail in the scan), but the reason I like that one so much is the alignments. See how the mold, the inserts and the inlay (chariot) are fairly symetrical in their alignments. Given two new chips, and one is for my collection, I will select the one that has a better alignment of all those features. Thats me, not all collectors.
The $1 Four Queens (PaulSon) was released in 1999 (8,000 made) as part of the Millenium tribute. There is also a variation of this chip that is an LE (2000 made).
The hot-stamped "US" hub mold is what the collectors call a UFC (an Unidentified Flying Chip) or an Unknown. The chip could be from a personalized home game or from an illegal gaming operation. This chip known to exist in red and blue. Its un-used condition tends to point toward being from a home game set.
The $5 Pechanga (BandG) is a current chip from the Pechanga Indian casino in California.
The $1 Flamingo (PaulSon) was issued when the "Hilton" name came off the casino in 2000). This is an unusual, modern day $1 chip because it has an insert. Inserts raise the basic cost of a chip and to do that for a low denomination chip is not the norm. Additionally, it is a "vee" insert (the shape) which is also unusual. And then add to that, there is only one insert. One insert chips are very unusual. Most are 2, 3 or 4, and almost always symetrical.
This chip, although not obsolete, (if my memory serves me correctly) has also been replaces with a bland, Bud Jones chip.
Lastly, the yellow Stardust, small crown (TR King) is a roulette chip from the 60's and is in cancelled condition (the drill hole). But what an interesting item. I'm sure you have seen the movie Casino, with Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone. It is based on the casino life of Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal. Frank ran the Stardust and that roulette could very well have been in-play at the time he was there! What a story there, if only a chip could talk.
Well I've rambled on long enough, but these are some very nice starting pieces for a collection.
Enjoy!
Jim (Gaming Ore) Follis  | 
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