I too, thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. Williams talk. I had my hand raised to ask a question but due to all of the other hands, I didn't get to ask until after the banquet. I thought that her comment on the Holiday Queen was so fascinating that I asked her about the River Queen. The HQ's are rare but there are only three known $5 River Queen chips and two are in Steve Cutler's museum at the Trop.

I had heard that the Holiday Casino was preceeded by the Holiday Queen, which replaced the River Queen. I bought my $100 River Queen from a former employee of the Holiday Casino, who found the chip under a desk drawer.

We learned from Mrs. Williams that River Queen and Holiday Queen were name considerations for her casino. She and her husband decided against using the name, River Queen and they were prevented from using the name, Holiday Queen because of a similar name by another owner. An undisclosed number of chips were ordered for each of the two names.

We know of several chips that were made for casinos that never opened, such as the Jockey Club (LV), Kings Crown (LV), Players Club (Reno), Beachcomber (LV), Bowery Club (LV), etc. Some were denied licenses and others didn't open for other reasons. The value of these and other chips are determined by supply and demand. Some of these chips have come out in large numbers and are very reasonable, such as Jockey Club and Kings Crown. Some are very rare and command high prices such as the Beachcomber. I believe that the River Queen and the Holiday Queen chips will continue to be desirable by collectors and will retain their rare and expensive status. It may take a few years for the dust to settle and the results should be interesting.