I had a rush of last hour submissions that I need to weed through to determine the winner, so the results will be a bit delayed.

However, in the meantime, these are the answers, along with some explanations.

I thank the more than 40 participants, and with the objective being to have fun, I certainly hope you all did.

Thanks for the participation that generated over 200 emails to me, and I suspect I'll get a few more!

So, as they say, "Here we go!"...

The subject matter of this chip is called Cool Bird. The reverse of the chip commemorates the Grand Opening of the Nevada Gold Museum at the Flamingo HILTON, Laughlin, NV, January 15, 1997. The Nevada Gold Museum was the precursor of the Casino Legends Hall of Fame Museum that resided for some time at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV, with Member, Steven Cutler.

There were 18 differences!

1. Apparently, this was the trickiest difference to correctly describe. Nearly all of the received answers were along the lines that the hat and cane mold, adjacent to the denomination on Chip A, was “reversed”. And whlie that was valid, it is also inverted! Digitally speaking, I selected the area around the mold, copied it, pasted on to the same spot, flipped it horizontally (reversed it) and flipped it vertically (inverted it) and repositioned it to align the cross-hatching. Both characteristics (reversing and inverting) needed to be described for a correct answer on this difference.

2. The tail end of the numeral “5” of the denomination is shorter on Chip A than on Chip B. This was spotted by nearly every entry.

3. Another tough one to describe, but the simple answer is, Cool Bird’s right leg is missing on Chip B. If you notice in the original scan, the right leg is much thinner than the left leg and I did not want contestants to think that the leg was missing in both images, and therefore an unobserved difference, so, on Chip A, I copied the left leg, pasted it over the scrawny thin right leg to accentuate the leg being there. On Chip B I removed the scrawny little right leg all together. But the only required answer here was that the leg was missing. It was not hidden behind the bird’s tail feathers, it was gone.

4. This difference was spotted by everyone. The dates are different, “1997” vs. “1979”.

5. This was a semi-tough difference to spot, but for those that did, it was pretty simple to describe. The blue “insert” at about the 1:00 o’clock position on Chip B met the red body of the chip at a 90 degree angle, vs. the angle of meeting on Chip A. (It was interesting to note that the blue thingy was NOT always referred to as an “insert”.

6. The right arm of Cool Bird’s sunglasses is made longer on A (or shorter on Chip B). In looking at the original chip, the arm was extended. A couple of submissions were under the impression that this black line, with a notch in it, was feathers. Sorry.

7. The letter “l” in the word “Flamingo” is taller on chip B (like on the original) and shorter on Chip A. In this instance, I would accept that on Chip A, the tip of the letter is hidden by Cool Bird’s feather-fingers.

8. With a 10x loupe, it is difficult to see this Registered Trademarked Symbol (®), let alone have a full understanding of what it is and how to describe it. Therefore, any reference to terms like trademark, copyright, registered, etc. were acceptable when stating that on Chip B it was gone.

9. The dot of the letter “i” in “Flamingo” is about half the size of the same dot on Chip A. To note that one was bigger or smaller than the other was the correct answer.

10. The capital letter “I” in “HILTON” was made into a lowercase “i” on Chip B. Nearly every submission had this difference noted.

11. The space between the numerals “1” and “5” of the serial number “158” is smaller in Chip B (or bigger on Chip A). This was also commonly spotted. Chip A reflects that of the original.

12. This difference was something that I thought everyone would miss, but I guess it wasn’t to be. On Chip A, I copied the smaller , dark pink shading on Cool Bird’s right arm (wing) and pasted it twice along his arm to extend the shading further. Nearly everyone spotted this difference.

13. In the original image, like on Chip A, you can see 3 spots or speckles between the words “Flamingo” and “HILTON”. Those spots are supposed to be Cool Bird’s shin bones showing between the words. On Chip B, I copied the spot on the left and added as a forth spot. It was variously described as being above the “T” of “HILTON” and below the “m” of “Flamingo”.

14. Another tough one to correctly describe, for several reasons. The basic valid response is Cool Bird’s has a big bushy right eyebrow on Chip B, or a smaller right eyebrow on Chip A.. In looking at the original scan (and that of Chip A) a thin eye brow can be seen above Cool Bird’s right eye. To the right of that eyebrow, there is a tuft of blackness that could be a bushy left eyebrow, but is more than likely a tuft of feathers at the top of Cool Bird’s head. To give Cool Bird a bushy right eyebrow, I copied, pasted and re-positioned that tuft of blackness to cover over Cool Bird’s smaller right eyebrow on Chip B. The typical incorrect answers I received reflected that Cool Bird’s right eyebrow was missing on Chip A.

15. A second slash mark was added to the dollar symbol on Chip B, or Chip A has a single slash mark and Chip B has a double slash mark on the dollar symbol. Another difference spotted by nearly everyone.

16. This difference was hard to spot for many and then very hard to describe when spotted! Basically, Cool Bird’s grin was modified. While difficult to describe, some said the smile was longer or shorter, or that there was more or less cheek area. I find the cheek description easier to follow. On Chip B there is more cheek than on Chip A. The method I used to produce this difference, cause another difference that I was not aware of until some of the responses started to come in. So, if given a test early on, I would have failed to have spotted all the changes myself! The difference created is described below, as number 17.

17. When I made the grin shorter on teeth, but larger on cheek space, it resulted in creating an additional tooth line and therefore and additional tooth. So, Chip B has an added tooth, even though Cool Bird’s mouth opening is shorter. Go figure!

18. Lastly, for nearly every entry, this was one of the last differences to be noted. The top arm of the letter “E” in the word “EDITION” on Chip A has been extended to nearly touch the letter “D”.

Well, that’s it! Again my thanks to all the players.

Oh wait. Who’s the winner?

Well, technically, only one player found all 18 differences, as explained above. Unfortunately for that player, he neglected to abide by the Rule that required a reply post to state the number of differences found! I will award a boobie prize to that player !

As for the next best offered answers, I am still making the calculations and will post the 3 winners in the morning.

Thanks again for playing along!

Jim

ps. I am including the two graphics here, so that those of you comparing your answers (from your email screen) to the listing above and needing to look at the side-by-side chips (a 3rd screen) can have an easier time of it.

The Challenge!

The original scan!