After reading the story in the CCGTN regarding Steve's find, and subsequent return of the Jensen chips, I got to thinking about collecting, and finding chips. I loved that story, and I would love to hear some other collectors tales of how they acquired some of their most beloved cheques! As I am laid up today (I tore a hammy playing volleyball last night, and I am spending the day icing it and playing online poker) I figured I would tell you all about my best find to date.

I live in Pawling NY, about 75 minuted north of NYC. I started collecting about 6 years ago. I love horse racing and have some Secretariat memorabilia. One day, I was eBaying Secretariat stuff and I came across the newly released Palms horse chips. I was playing in some wild Hold 'Em games at the time, and thought the chip would make a great card capper (hey, if you are in a horse race, who better to be on than Big Red!). So I purchased one of the $2.50's, then found out that there was a set, so I got the other two, then figured out that while I was at it, the 5's were pretty nice too, then I thought a set of the current LV 1's would look great on the wall in my poker room.....well, I am sure you know the rest. FYI, I still use that first Palms $2.50 as my card capper. Of course, I have another for the permanent collection!

This area is certainly NOT the hotbed of chip collecting. I live near one of the largest flea markets in the region (Stormville), and in all my looking, I have never found anything to get excited about, a few chips here and there, but never anything to get fired up about. After a while, my enthusiam for looking waned, and I resigned myself to scouring eBay for bargains. I did OK, found some great chips, and my collection grew.

Meanwhile, I have a fried who is an avid collector of McCoy pottery. He spends much of his weekends on the road in pursuit of finds. He knew I was into chipping. At a dinner party, we had a conversation about collecting, and I asked him to keep me in mind during his travels. He called me once, from a local weekend flea market, saying he had come across some old chips. When I got there, I was disappointed. They were old, but they were generic US Playing Card Co. chips. Lesson learned----fine tune the search! I explained that I was looking for Nevada, and preferably Vegas chips, and they had to be old!

I didn't hear from my friend for a while---over a year.

Then one Monday morning in the late fall of 2006, I got a call from him. He was doing some antiqueing in New England. He was in a small shop, and had found a piece he was going to purchase. As he was paying for the item, he noticed a binder on the owners desk. It was opened, and there were chips in it. He told the owner he had a friend who collected them and asked if he could flip through it. She said "Of course", and handed it to him. As he was looking, she mentioned that she had just received the binder from a friend, an elderly, retired dentist, who had just left that morning for his winter home in Florida. He told her he was simplifying, and wanted to get rid of clutter.

My friend took a business card, then called me the next morning. He said that there were about 200 chips, some were definitely from Las Vegas, and some were definitely from the Caribbean. He said the binder looked VERY old, the pages were yellowed, the cover was scruffy, etc. Then he said something that really piqued my interest.....he had noticed a Caesars Palace chip that was brown, and had a lot of horseheads going around the chip. Oh, and a Flamigo chip that had a flamingo on it.

Eeeeek, adrenaline shot!

It was 10:00 AM. I said "Let me get that telephone number please......". I called the shop. Recording. Darn. I left a message. I did a MapQuest search of the address. It was 100 miles away. I was debating just jumping into the car and going when the phone rang. It was the owner.

I told her that I was the friend of the man who was in her shop the day before, and that I collected chips. She laughed, and said "I never heard of anyone collecting these things!" I asked her a few general questions about the chips, like how many were there, what were the denominations, and what kind of shape were they in. Then I asked her what she wanted for them. She said, well they are mostly 1's and 5's, with a few larger denominations in there, and that she knew the ones with the larger denominations were not worth that. She said she thought a couple of bucks for each of the $1's and $7-$8 for each of the $5's would do it.

I told her I was definitely (understatement, indeed) interested, and that I would be at the store in the afternoon. She told me she had planned on leaving in a couple of hours, but would hang around for me if I was defintely coming. I assured her that I was indeed coming, and would be there shortly.

I raced to the bank and took out $1500. On the way, I ran into my wife. She laughs when she recalls it-----I definitely had the "St. Vitus Dance", and was like, "Love ya, GOTTA GO, bye!!!!"

The ride was excruciatingly long. I remembered thinking that I should not get my hopes up, and that maybe, when I got there, I would be disappointed, but I could not help feeling like the stars were aligning. An old dentist looking to clear up clutter. A seller with no idea of value. My friend's description of the Caesar's. Oyyyyyyy get me there.

Well after about two and a half hours, I arrived at the shop. It was a small shop, located in a small strip mall. Everything was in disarray.
The keeper was a small woman in her 50's. I introduced myself, we shook hands, and she stepped over to her desk and produced a fat binder. The binder was not like the ones we get today. It had a linen feel to it. The pages were very similar to the pages we use today, but they were yellowed.

I opened the binder to the first page.

Caribbean. Damn. I have no clue here. They looked old, they looked cool, some HCE molds, but they were not my cup of tea.

Page two. More Caribbean. Arrrrgh.

Page three. Europe. SOB, I am going to be disappointed. Just my luck.

Then I opened it up to page four.

I will never forget it it. I was looking at a page full of chips I had WISHED to some day own. A 3rd ed. Dunes $1. An 8th ed. Sands $1. A $5 Flamingo 6th ed. 1st ed. .50 and a $1 Flamingo Capris. So many others......

There were still 4 pages to go!!!!! On the next two pages, I saw the 3rd ed. Caesar's $5, a 7th ed. Stardust $5, old $1 Aladdins, a bunch of old Riviera's some 6th ed. Sahara's, and a bunch of other chips from some of the smaller strip casino's of the 60's and 70's.

My mind was racing. Of course I already knew I was buying this binder, if it took every cent I had on me. I could see there were two more pages left. Awww shucks, more Caribbeans on half the next page, and gaming tokens on the rest and the last page.

Hey, my glass was 99% full!!!!!!! I'm not complaining!!!! Ok, lol, just a wee bit!

I told the seller that I was definitely interested in the collection, that there were several chips in it that I needed for my collection. She told me that after we spoke, she called the dentist. They had a discussion and felt that $850 would be a fair price for all of the chips. I took a deep breath considered offering $750 for about a tenth of a second, then said "Hey that works for me. I REALLY like these chips!" I paid the $850, and was on my way. Just like that.

The drive home was worse than the drive up. I spent the whole ride home with one eye on the road, and one eye on the binder. I could not help myself. The next few days were so much fun, as I discovered that the Caribbeans were also pretty valuable, as were the Europeans. They were all old, and in decent to very good shape.

This acquisition became the cornerstone of my collection. Ultimately, I sold off the Caribbeans, and some of the Nevada chips I didn't need. I used the substantial profit to purchase a few other collections, did a bit of this and that, and today, I have a modest collection of classic Vegas chips that I am very proud of.

I know I will probably never find a collection like that again, at that price, but I will keep looking!!!! As a footnote, I did get in touch with the seller. There was a chip in the collection that I could not identify, even after showing the chip to a few experienced collectors. We had a nice conversation. I asked him if he had any more chips (had too!) and he said that i got the whole lot. He was a retired orthodontist, who liked to play craps. He was a bachelor. He loved to travel. He collected from about 1965 until about 1980 or so, when he decided to quit gambling. He would keep a $5 chip if he did well, and a $1 chip if he didn't. He had no idea other people collected chips.

I 'fessed up, and told him they were worth more than what I paid for them. He said he didn't mind at all, he could tell I loved them, and he was happy with the price he got. I thsnked him and told him those chips would always have a happy home here!

So ends the tale of my one GREAT acquisition. I would love to hear your tsory of the one that DIDNT get away, if you would care to tell it, and if you don't have a tale yet.......well hey, you NEVER know!