Noticing the hole in the Cuban chip below, advertised and well presented, made me think that many non-Cuban collectors may wrongly evaluate Cuban chips with holes.

In the USA such nice round holes, usually one, is almost 100% cancellation by the casino so that it cannot be used again. In Cuba there was little or no cancelation as chips were used until they no longer resembled one. And chips were normally used together with newer and even older editions.

So, why all those holes on the older Cuban chips?

After the casinos closed in Cuba, chips ended up everywhere, in boxes, stored in vaults, and in the ground or eventually under the ground. Very little attention was given to these "things" which were a symbol of the "nasty dictatorship" that had just crumbled. However, as time passed, and the promises of the revolution faded away and started to show the sad reality of this new Cuba, people without money or anything to buy, started to pay attention to things that previously were considered "trash". These included those little round pretty chips that started to decorate houses and things where previously other form of art existed. The chips were mostly used as bathroom shower curtain hangers, people would make two holes or more to the chip, exact opposite to each other. One hole had the thick cord that acted as a pole threaded through the holes of the chips and the then lower hole was attached to the curtain directly or with different combination of cords. Suddenly it worked as a very elegant & colorful hanger. These became quite customary and nice decoration.

I cannot name the things that these chips were used for, belt decoration, photos or posters were made surrounded by these chips, you can just imagine that any use that could be obtained from these, they did. So, when collecting Cuban chips, holes and certain other disfiguration of chips, particularly in the more rare ones, are not devaluated as you would in the USA. Of course a chip without a hole would be much valuable than a chip with a hole, but in some of the older and rarest chips, a hole was/is just a hole.

Below is my collection of the "Ballerina" edition by Tropicana. I believe I have the entire series which I show here, but of course, there could be some rare denomination that has not shown up yet. Also please note in the scan below the $10 denomination with about 100 holes, but, maybe one of the most valuable chips in there. This chip could be the only one known, and if there are more, hidden in somebody's collection, it would not be more than 1-2 more. And I would love to know about it! So, forget the holes, in Cuban chips they are just a matter of fact, and look at the beauty behind them.