Howdy,

I’m embarking on a slightly ambitious quest of buying; probably over my head and out of reach of my pocket book to boot.

I have a list of chips/strikes/token I would like to purchase, however there is a catch. I’m not set on any certain ones i.e. a $5 Lucky Ladies from The Palms, but rather a chip from a Nevada casino that costs $X. Confused? Read on.

You might call this theme buying. Actually, I’m working on a slight feasibility study on this project before I end up investing all of my overtime money on chips that frankly may end up as traders and am hoping my fellow collectors can provide me with some advice as well as chips in the near future if this works out.

My Background
I collect 3 types of chips. Casinos/Cardrooms I visit, chips friends/family give me and chips from The Palms. That is the extent of my collecting. Why is this important? It may not be, but I hope this gives you a slight insight in to my collecting experience, so that when you read my ramblings below you will understand that I really don’t know the answer.

Like I said, I’m interested in buying chips that fit into a theme; however they need to also meet two other criteria: Condition and Price. How is this different than what ever collector of any type considers? Well the theme portion is huge…really huge (I think) which gives a lot of leeway.

Condition and Price

Condition should be as close to new as can be. They don’t have to be right from the cage, but really good.

Price should be less than $5 each. Chips in use today with a $5 or less face value practically fall into this category, however I’m not looking solely for those.

Theme

I’m looking for feedback and hopefully things to buy in the future that fit these i.e. Do I have a chance of buying 20 ($100) or so that fit these themes?

Nevada Obsolete. I really shouldn’t throw this one out first as I’m interested in examples that have character. Not marked up run over with a truck character, but you know. Neat-o ones. “Neat-o” is a technical term, by the way.
Roulette
Native American
Tokens
Atlantic City
Illegal
Foreign
Cruise Ships (“wet chips” I think they’re called)

As for Silver Strikes I know these cost more, but what might I expect to pay for the average SS? $12 – $15?

I have a few other themes in mind, but I’ve gone on longer than I intended. Depending on the feedback I receive from this, I should know enough to figure out if the remaining is possible.

A big thanks to any and all that made it this far and a huge thanks to any that have the time to throw even a few thoughts my way.

K. David Marple
R-5644