in Havana Cuba!
These chips were found in good numbers during the days of chip hunting in Cuba, late 1990's. Most were black and few were orange and lavander. No other color has yet to be found and all the chips found have been in uncirculated condition. Thus suggesting that these were probably never used.

Every so often a black Capri shows up in the USA in the strangest of places and some strange "place of origin" is given to them, reason why I asked first.

The Capri was a very important casino for Lansky, although not necessarily his favorite. It was one of the first 50's casino in what is now the downtown area and a lot of his casino operations were directed from there. In fact, here, instead of a real penthouse, he used the space to mount his 3rd dealer's school. In addition, Lansky paid a "bad" actor, George Raft, to be the "face" of the casino, the Red Room, as it was initially called. Of course, poor george was just a pretty face to attract guests and had little to do with the operation, while his brother, an unknown figure, did have a managerial position.

The opening night of the casino, guests were received with a handshake and a kiss by the above mentioned actor. Also a chip worth $5 in play ( a decent amount for those days) was given to the first group to enter the casino. The chip carried the face of George Raft. A small number of these chips survived over time and are extremely rare at this point. See below.

This casino is probably the only casino where at one point all of the chips produced for it could be found. I believe 3 or 4 of us have the entire collection, including a large & complex number of roulette chips. Probably the reason why the small set of the above shown chips never were used. I have a second collection where I am only missing one chip, the rarest chip, a red roulette F. Been trying to find a second one for years to no avail.

Below are the three chips found with similar design/mold and pictures of the Capri Hotel & the Red Room Casino. Below that is the chip, showing both sides at the same time, that were given to the first patrons on opening night.

Hope you enjoyed this.