Goodbye to the Stardust!

For those that do not already know...the Stardust will be closing it's doors around noon on November 1st. If you live here in town, or will be here before they close, you can go check it out for the last time.

The plans are to implode it on New Year's Eve and then build a mega resort on the site. A lot of people are sad to be losing another part of Las Vegas history. Myself, I am looking forward to the future and the new place that will open in the next couple of years.

What are the most popular limited edition chips every year?

I have been asked that question a lot over the years. Without a doubt, Halloween chips are number one with collectors. Those that collect Halloween chips, can't get enough of them.

There are a few collectors that have every Halloween chip ever issued from a casino. That is very impressive! With some Halloween issues having been made in low numbers, it's almost impossible these days to try and acquire a complete collection. It's worth a try though if that is one of your collecting interests.

With Halloween right around the corner, there will be a number of new issues from not only here in Nevada, but from other areas with gaming as well.

You can view a list of all known Halloween chips at the link below.

http://www.halloweenchips.com

U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide!

Price guides are just that, GUIDES to the value of a chip. They become outdated fairly soon after being published.

What is fantastic about the U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide are all of the high resolution COLOR chip pictures! There are also numerous pictures of some of the older casinos.

The book is now in it's 3rd edition. I would suggest though that you buy all three editions if you can find them. The reason being is that they show a lot of different chip pictures in each edition. You will never be able to see so many color chip pictures all in one place.

For more information on the book and to see how to order directly from the author, just click the link below.

http://www.nevadacasinochips.com/USCasinoPriceGuide.htm

The future of Las Vegas?

"Vegas Today and Tomorrow is an up-to-date, comprehensive and easy to navigate collection of current news, maps, plans and renderings of proposed and future projects in the Las Vegas valley. The site is packed with over 600 photos on 112 pages of developments under construction as well as plans for future and proposed projects."

The above is from their Web site. For those who like to keep up with what is being planned for Las Vegas, this is a great site. In addition to a lot of pictures, there are some fantastic maps of the Las Vegas valley showing various projects.

Click the link below to check out the site.

http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/index.htm

Keeping track of your chip collection.

Would you like to use a computer software program to keep track of your chips? Terry Shaffer is a sales representative for Carlisle Development's Casino Chip Collector's Assistant Plus. Terry is also a fellow club member.

In addition to the software program, Terry also includes a bonus CD with almost 10,000 full color, high quality chip scans.

Click the link below to learn more about the program.

http://www.happychipper.com/carlisledevelopment.html

Crest and Seal chips.

Some collectors just concentrate on crest and seal chips. These are chips that were made by the U.S. Playing Card Company in the 1940's or earlier.

Rich Hanover is one of those collectors. He has one of the largest crest and seal collections known. Click the link below to check out his amazing collection of crest and seals.

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme/chipper/USPC/ALLclubs.htm

Have you ever overpaid for a chip?

We all have at one time or another. Collectors pay more than they should for items in any hobby at least once. Don't let it sour you on the hobby though.

Instead, keep that item nearby as a reminder to do your homework. The more you know about the hobby and what chips sell for, the better prepared you are to make good decisions when buying chips.

Ask fellow collectors what a chip you are interested in has sold for. Search the Internet to see if you can find the same chip for sale there. Check The Chip Rack and the U.S. Price Guide to get an idea of the value of a chip.

Do your homework and it will payoff in the long run.

Nevada Casino Ashtray Project!

For those of you who are thinking about collecting casino ashtrays, you will find the Nevada Casino Ashtray Project Web site very interesting.

You will not find more pictures of Nevada casino ashtrays anywhere on the Internet or in books. Go to the link below to check out the site.

http://www.nevadacasinoashtrays.org

When the mob ran Vegas!

This is a great book about Las Vegas in the 50's and 60's. Go to the link below to read more about it.

http://www.whenthemobranvegas.com

Ask the experts!

Do you have a question about a collecting area related to gaming? There is a group of club members who have volunteered to answer your questions.

Go to the link below to find out who volunteered in your area of collecting. Then just E-Mail them your questions!

http://www.ccgtcc.com/education/ask_the_expert.pdf

Postcards!

For those who like to display their chips, adding a postcard from the casino is a nice addition. That way you are showing what the casino looks like, in addition to displaying the chips.

You will find all types of postcards at the chips shows. You can also find them for sale online at eBay. Postcards that are over 60 years old, or more recent postcards from just a couple of years ago.

I collect linen postcards from Nevada. You can see two from my collection at the link below.

http://www.nevadacasinochips.com/Postcards.htm