Here are three examples of the old Hacienda, Las Vegas 50c Trade Check on the green diamond mold. The first one is an old one that I've had a while. The "gold" on this one has long since corroded to grungy black. The second two were in an eBay auction recently. Chip color appears a little lighter but may just be from use.

The question is on the stamping. It appears that the one on the right was stamped with a broken hot-stamp die; there is no impression of the last letters of the name and location. Anyone have any knowledge or speculation of how this came about? Just a reorder in which the die broke part way through? Modern replicas made by someone with a die (I doubt it, as the 2 chips show some wear, which wouldn't be the case with new blanks).

If genuine, there maybe should be a new TCR listing for the one with truncated marking. These are pretty good NCV's, going for from $50-75 each in most dealers' books. I have only the 3 chips, not a box of them [g]!

By the way, this is the chip that has restaurant spelled "RESTURANT" on the reverse (just the way it sounds!). All the green trade checks are like that.