To All,
First of all let me thank Andy Hughes for posting my old Cotton Club article I wrote at the begining of 1998. I had fun writing that article and sharing it with my fellow chip collectors. Writing back then was different.It was fun! The people who collected chips were different. Today we have MORE of the money grabbing individuals involved in the hobby. If you think I'm wrong just look at the slabbing issue. I guess this is a result of growth. It turns me off. The result is I just don't "feel" like writing informative articles for our collecting community. Why, because the writings will be used to make money by those who have the chips to sell. I guess this is a differnt issue and should be discussed at another date and time.

When Dick Price provided me with the information to write the Cotton club article back in 1998 I believed what he told me. You see Dick and I have always had a special relationship involving information. I never doubted what he told me and he never told me things that were untrue. Nothing has chanmged and too my knowledge Dick IS NOT involved in the current selling of these chips.

I have spent a good portion of yesterday chasing down information pertaing to the Cotton Club chips Why? Because I feel a sense of responsibility to those who purchased these chips back in 1998 based upon my article. Let's discuss what I found out in two segments.

The first chips are the $5.00 and $10.00 small crown - hot stamped yellow and blue respectively. I verified through T.R. King that these chips were made back in 1953 and shipped to J. Cannon who was one of the owners of the Club. Dennis at T.R. King said there were 300 of each chip made. I have no reason to doubt this information and still believe it is true. However, since 1998 I have noticed an interesting aspect involving these chips. Every one that I have seen is brand new. I don't know if this is significant but it does make one wonder.....Perhaps an entire box of each denomination was never used. I don't know but I sure would like to see or hear that some of them are used.

This brings me to how many have been found. I believe all of them have surfaced. 600 chips in total - 300 of each denomination. At first glance this looks terrible. However, in reality 300 of each is not that many chips. Eventually the market will absorb them and there will be no more. Until this happens I am sure the price will drop to where it should be - around a $100.00 a piece. Purchasers like myself who paid top dollar are stuck. It will not be the first nor will it be the last experience for those who collect Las Vegas chips.

The next chip or maybe I should have said the first chip $5.00 rectangle mold, cotton ball inlay is a beauty! I love this chip and the quality presentation it makes. It wreaks from history and tells a story in terms of ones imagination when held. I believe three individuals control or have contolled this chip. Who these people are is not as important as to how many of these beautiful chips do they have among themselves. My guess less than a box. One of them had 15 and he is down to 3. Another had 35 and wouldn't tell me how many were left. The third and final person I did not talk too. From a third party source I would put him at around 30 pieces or perhaps a few more. Two of these individuals obtained the chips from the same person.

Knowing this how much is the chip worth? I don't know. I am not trying to be funny or clever but I really don't know. If pushed to the point of having to answer I would say less than $500.00.
I did learn an interesting point about this chip. If you put a "loop" on it you will see it has no cross hatchings. What does that mean? It means the inlay was glued on and not put on with heat. You see it is heat that leaves the cross hatching pattern on the inlaid chip.
What about other rectangle inlaid chips? Do they have cross hatching? I don't know. I haven't checked this out yet,but I will. Those of you who are interested can check out your inlaid rectangle mold chips and tell us here on the board. If your chips bear cross hatching and we can find no other rectangle mold chips without cross hatching than.........I'll levae it up to you.

In closing, I will add this point. Any collector who has ever held the $5.00 Cotton Club rectangle mold with cotton ball inlay in their hand should be asked this question:

Should casino chips be slabbed????

Thanks for reading, Best - Jim