Business at the Cotton Club fell off to the point it was no longer profitable to operate. When it closed, it also closed a page on Black casino history thereby giving chip collectors some of the rarest collectable chips ever produced for any casino.

During the latter part of 1997 my friend and fellow chip collector Dick Price was able to obtain from an individual who lives in Corvallis, Oregon the following number and types of Cotton Club chips:

3 - $5.00 rectangle mold; cotton ball inlay.

12 -$5.00 HS yellow; small crown mold.

13 -$10.00 HS blue; small crown mold.

The individual who sold them to Dick did not collect chips or any type of casino collectable. This gentleman obtained these chips from the mid 1950's to the mid 1960's during his many business travels to Nevada. These were all of them. No other Cotton Clubs have surfaced prior nor do I believe any will surface in the future. From everything I have researched over the last few months I have concluded these chips are probably all there will ever be. Of course no one can say for sure. The best any of us can do is give an educated guess based upon the evidence and SOURCE of the information.

At this writing Dick had only 5 - $5.00 yellows, and 5 - $10.00 blue chips left. The inlaid ones found a home in a hurry to the very deep pocket collectors. Dick is asking $600.00 for the $5.00 and $750.00 for the $10.00 or $1,200.00 for both. Are they worth it? Each individual has to decide this question for oneself. All I intended on doing was to give anyone who may be interested all the information available to make an intelligent choice. Whether you want the chips or not give Dick a call. I have found over the course of time his honesty to be refreshing and his knowledge helpful.

I hope you enjoyed the article as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you!!!
You can reach Dick here on *P* at LYJJ29A; or give him a call at 1-541-926-0090. Best, Jim

Cotton Club Update:

I do not know if Dick Price has any of these chips left for sale. Feel free to call him. I have not talked to him in a while. If you should talk to him before I do - tell him I said "HELLO".