SPUR-OF-THE-MOMENT AUCTION AT TABLE #16 at the CC>CC Convention

I will be holding a “Silent Auction” of the 14 lots shown below. These chips will be on display for all 3 days of the Convention. The bidding ends at Noon, PDT on Saturday, June 25, and upon receipt of payment, I will ship the chips for FREE.

This Auction is open, ONLY to CC>CC MEMBERS. However, if you are not attending the Convention, but are a member of the Club, you can email me your bid.

PLEASE NOTE: I HAVE A SPECIAL EMAIL FOR THIS AUCTION:

vegaschipmanauction@gmail.com***

The Lots are numbered 1-14, starting with the top row, moving left to right, etc. I apologize for the color loss on Lot # 3 and Lot #8. My scanner is too old. The true colors of these 2 lots can be seen in the Chip Guide (CG042037 and CG081812 respectively).

Lot #1 - $5.00 Splash Casino, Tunica, MS, “1st Anniversary” chip, Chipco mold in Mint condition with no defects. Splash Casino was one of the first Casinos to get a MS gambling license and opened in late1992 and was one of the first to go out of business. It was only open about 2½ years. The chips became very valuable and this is the prettiest of all the Splash chips. MINIMUM BID $6.

Lot #2 - Two(2) $5 Peacock Casino. St. Maarten, PLA-DIESUITS, dkpnk, CIC, casino closed over 25 years ago, but these $5 chips pop-up. MIINIMUM BID $8 for the pair.

Lot #3 - $5 Chinatown Casino, Wells, NV, SCV, hotpnk in Mint condition with a tiny nick in one edge. Otherwise, it looks like an UNC chip. A “K” value in the latest TCR ($60-$74). MINIMUM BID $20.

Lot #4 - $5 Concord Casino, St. Maarten, EWING mold, dkred. This Casino closed before my very first trip to St Maarten, in 1975. All Concord chips are difficult to find. This is Avg+, stands on its edge and has no visible edge defects. MINIMUM BID $10.

Lot #5 - $5 Concorde Casino, Aruba, LCV, red. This chip is Avg-, yet difficult to find. MINIMUM BID $8.

Lot #6 - $5 Horseshoe Club, LV. NV, ARODIE, mus. Probably the least expensive ARODIE mold chip you can own from one of the most famous Casinos ever. An “I” value in the latest TCR ($40-$49). MINIMUM BID $15.

Lot #7 - $5 Neptune Casino, St Maarten, Chipco, red. I believe the rarest of any $5 chip n the Caribbean. The Casino, a small “Slot Palace” with a blackjack game was only open for 6 months. All chips from this Casino are very rare-maybe less than 10 known. I was in the Casino the day it opened and I was in the Casino the day it closed. I was not a chip collector then; but, became one a few years later. Having a time-share at Pelican Resort in St. Maarten allowed me to scour the local establishments for Neptune chips. In my entire career, I had a total of 5 chips from the Neptune; the rarest being the $2.50, which became my reason for limiting my buying, selling and trading to almost exclusively $2.50 chips. The $2.50s sold for between $500-$600. I sold a $500 chip for $500 and I sold my previous $5 for $300. Special sale of this chip, with a MINIMUM BID of $150,

Lot #8 - $5 King Midas Casino, St Maarten, SCV, floorg. Avg-, especially due to the dirty inlays on both sides.MINIMUM BID $6.

Lot #9 - $5 Lucayan Beach, Bahamas, LCV, red. A little dirty, but no nicks and it can stand on its edge. MINIMUM BID $8.

The next 3 lots are $100 chips from the Caribbean. If you are a Caribbean collector, or a $100 chip collector, here is your chance to acquire one or more of these chips at fairly low Minimum Bids.

Lot #10 - $100 Casino Kalliste, St Maarten, LGKEY. blk. MINIMUM BID $25.

Lot #11 - $100 Concord Casino, St Maarten, EWING, blk and part of the Series with Lot #4. Minimum Bid $35.

Lot #12 - $100 “FJS” actually used on the baccarat table in the International Casino, Curacao, is the most interesting chip in this Auction, and should be a “must-have” for serious Caribbean collectors. From what I have read (and actually heard from John Genauldi many years ago), the FJS are the initials of Floyd Junior “Bud” Sweet. In the early 1960s, he worked at Curacao Intercontinental, the 1st casino in Curacao. Later in the 1960s, he was Casino Manager of the Curacao Hilton. He ordered a series of chips with his initials and used them on the baccarat tables. The $5 of this series was submitted by Ralph Pollack to the Chip Guide and one of these $100 chips was submitted by John Genauldi to the Chip Guide. I acquired this chip from John in a chip trade involving a Neptune Casino chip. I believe he had less than 5 of this $100 chip. On its history alone, this chip could be worth several hundred dollars. MINIMUM BID $75.

The final 2 lots involve “unique” error chips. I can honestly say that I have owned each for over 10 years since acquiring them and no other similar chip has been found.

Lot #13 - is made up of a non-error 25c chip from the Stage Coach Inn in West Yellowstone, MT, TRICLUB mold used in a daily single-table poker game in the bar area of the Inn, plus the ERROR chip (with a $25 inlay on one side and the normal 25c inlay on the obverse). These 2 chips are MINT, and look and feel like an UNC chip. The story about the acquisition of this error chip and the discovery of the error about 10 years later, gives this chip a “Provenance” like a valuable piece of art.

In 1999, my then girl friend, one of my sons (from Boise, ID) and I were staying in the Inn. After we checked-in, I walked into the bar and tried to get in the game (especially to acquire a couple of these beautiful chips). The table was playing 11-handed, with at least 3 men crowded around the outside. When I commented on the beauty of the chips, they immediately told me it would be a “cold day in hell” before they would let me anywhere near these chips. As I was leaving, I noticed there was a single, young bartender and the players were treating him like a piece of s__t, cursing at him and telling him he was lazy and stupid. However they were tipping him with these beautiful 25c chips. The bar curved around the registration desk, so I left the way I came in and went around the registration desk and entered the back-end of the bar. I waited until he came back to his post and noticed he was dropping these chips into a cup. I was able to buy 10 of his tips for $1 each. He was ecstatic, especially as he was making a 75c profit on each chip and screwing the players at the same time.

I returned home and put these 10 chips in my 25c chip case. Over the next 10 years, I sold about 4 of them, initially at $10 each. One year Ed Norris (who was starting to collect Montana chips because he was working there) came to my table and asked about the price for one of these 25c chips. I told him $10 and he felt that was too much. The next year he returned to my table and said he would like one for $10. I had actually started selling them for $20 and told him so, but agreed to give him the $10 price. I reached into my 25c case and took out one of the remaining 5 chips and handed it to him. He handed it back, saying he wanted a 25c chip, not a $25 chip. I looked at it and discovered I had this error chip and never knew it. Each year I thank Ed for handing it back. BTW, there has never been a $25 Stage Coach Inn chip. This is a printing error and over the last 17 years has proven to be unique.

The MINIMUM BID for both chips is $125.

Lot #14 is a normal $1 Horseshoe Casino, LV, NV, RHC, wht, with 3 inserts, 1brn/1ltblu/1pur and the ERROR chip with 3 inserts. 2brn/1ltblu. These 2 chips are in SU+ condition. I bought ithe error chip from a club member who noticed it in his $1 stack of these chips at the Horseshoe in 2005. A few years ago, I submitted it to TCR and they have entered it as E3133.E. It has an * meaning no market. So I am trying to make a market. MINIMUM BID $100 for both chips.

*** If you desire to bid prior to the Convention or during the first 2 days of the Convention, you must send an email to the following email address:

vegaschipmanauction@gmail.com
containing the following:
Your Name
Your Club Number
The LOT # you are bidding on
The amount of your bid
Your email address
Your phone number, IF you wish to receive a text when you have been outbid. Please note I will only send you a text at the end of the day you have been outbid.

ENJOY!
Peter Nathan, a/k/a Vegas Chipman