Casino chip collecting is a GREAT hobby.  Not only are there many wonderful people involved in this hobby but I'm going to tell you the reasons that casino chips are a wonderful collectible and a strong investment.

Even though casino chips are not considered a mainstream collectible like trading cards, comic books, coins or stamps they do have many attributes of a classic collectible.  There's history, beauty, intrinsic value, durability and rarity.  While a particular chip might not have all five of these elements, just about every chip ever issued by a casino will have at least two of them and often more.

Let's briefly talk about each of the five classic attributes...

History - Nevada first legalized gaming in 1931.  In the 75+ years since many, many casinos have come and gone.  Atlantic City opened it's first casino in 1978.  Many states soon followed with Indian casinos, riverboats and card rooms.  Needless to say each of these casinos used chips on their table games.  Entire chip racks were replaced, casinos closed, ownership changed... each of these events resulted in chips becoming obsolete and no longer available from the cashier cage.

Beauty - Many casino chips are like miniature works of art.  Incredible detail and design went into many of the chips to not only brand the particular casino but also as a security measure to thwart counterfeit "alien" chips being used and redeemed.  With multiple colors, full graphics and intricate mold designs most chips are a beautiful sight to behold.

Intrinsic Value - Like a coin or stamp most chips are worth the denomination printed on them.  If the casino is still open chances are the chip can be redeemed for it's face value.  If the casino is closed chances are the chip is worth much MORE than the value printed upon it on the secondary market as a collectible.  Of course supply and demand plays into any collectible, and chips are not excluded.  If the entire rack got "out" after a casino closed chances are the higher denomination chips ($25's, $100's, $500's & $1000's) are worth much less than their face value.

Durability - Unlike a trading card with a folded corner or a comic book with a rip that can substantially reduce the value of the collectible, chips are tough.  You don't have to worry about handling them or even accidently dropping them.  Chips were made to withstand years of heavy play on a gaming table.  What fun is a collectible that you have to be extra careful just holding?  Not even an issue with a casino chip.

Rarity - Unlike many collectibles where hundreds of thousands (even millions) were made, casino chips are made in a much smaller quantity.  Most limited edition chips have a quantity of 3,000 or less with many of them having less than 1,000 made.  With many older chips from casinos long since closed the number of survivors is even less due to the fact that most of the chips were destroyed when the casino shut it's doors.  There are many chips in our hobby that are believed to be unique or extremely rare (less than 10 known to exist).

Take a look at some of our other guides to learn more about the exciting hobby of casino chip collecting.

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Dave and Debbie Harber
Cheques in the Mail, Inc.

We've been collecting chips since 1986, selling them since 1995, on eBay since 1998 and working with Chipco International to make custom chips since '98 as well.  If you have any questions about casino chips, custom chips or eBay feel free to contact me through our About Me page.