Recently, Russ Diaz discovered a previously un-noticed variety of the Harrah's $1 gray ring Bud Jones chip. It is quite similar to the original gray ring chip of which I've provided a scan. The difference is in the spelling of "Marina" and "Casino". The newly discovered variety has a very small "i" in both words. Also, the mini-i variety (on the right) has a purpleish hue to the gray ring when viewed in direct sunlight. This variety was sent out to all my new issue subscribers a few weeks ago.

Guess what has happened since then? All the gray ring Harrah's $1 chips have been replaced with the old original black ring $1 chips. Reason? "Didn't have enough gray rings for the Memorial Day weekend". While that explanation sounds plausible.... all the black rings are brand spanking new with nice sharp edges! Some even think that the lettering on the new black ring chips are heavier than the original. You be the judge. I will show images of the two black rings with my next post. Meanwhile, click below to see the differences in the mini-i variety vs. the regular i.