More from Ernie:

I don't know, at this late date, of any way to prove the MSC chips were used on the gambling ship Monte Carlo. I have photographs of a raid on the Monte Carlo showing the authorities putting chips into canvas sacks. They are at the roulette table and all the chips look like TR King's standard wheel chips with a "club" pattern. They were of various colors. I have made close-up enlargements of these photographs.

From the very beginning I have been skeptical regarding the MSC chips. A chip collector gave me one along with the note supposedly authenticating them. What really bothers me is MSC does not mean anything. The ship was known as S.S. Monte Carlo. That name appeared on everything. You can assume the MC stands for Monte Carlo, but what does the S mean? The owners name was Ed V. Turner.
The Tango was operating at the same time and they used the Tango chips we find today. Also, keep in mind that the gambling ships used silver dollars as the main chip for betting. When the authorities raided and closed the ships in 1939 the Tango and Mount Baker had over $75,000 in silver dollars on board. They figured it was more than a ton in weight.

I have memorabilia from the Monte Carlo, advertising, matchbooks, dice, etc. and all are first class designs. They all have the name SS Monte Carlo on them. The interior of the ship is extremely impressive and the dining room had crystal and linen table settings. I could send you some xerox copies of the photographs if you would like to see.

More in Part 3