As reported in the TCB archives #21 on 2/20/11 by Chuck Tomarchio

The Chip Board Archive 21

This chip/token (one of the original "chokens") was created by Golden Nugget Atlantic City in an attempt to satisfy their need for a high denomination chip to use in games where large sums of money were being bet. In the early days of casino gaming in A.C. I believe the highest denomination chip was $500. Steve Wynn had an enormous following of high rollers from all over the world. He petitioned the New Jersey Casino Control Commission (CCC) for approval of a high denomination chip to help speed up the games where large bets were being made. High stakes baccarat and blackjack games were bogged down with large payouts and time-consuming fills to satisfy those payouts. The CCC told Golden Nugget to submit a proposal of what they would like to use to satisfy their needs on high end games. Golden Nugget created the very attractive $5000 chip/token with what appears to be gold plating around the outside edge and Golden Nugget A.C. on the outer edge. When the CCC received the chip/token submission it was their opinion that it did not meet their rules on what constituted a chip and denied their submission. The supply of the chip/tokens was maintained in the Golden Nugget vault and did not see the light of day until after Steve Wynn agreed to sell the Golden Nugget to Bally's. It was then that, at first, he gave the chip/token to his company executives as mementos for their loyal service. Eventually others got out (and I do not know the details) and wound up in the hands of other Golden Nugget employees and eventually into the hands of collectors. This is firsthand information since I worked at the Golden Nugget at the time it was sold to Bally's and heard the story from people high up in the company at the time. If these chip/tokens had any appreciable amount of gold in them, it is a certainty that they would have followed Steve Wynn when he moved back to Las Vegas and not handed out as tokens of appreciation.