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What Makes A Chip Valuable?

Generally speaking, what makes a vintage casino chip valuable is what makes any collectible valuable: "rarity". Without the benefit of known production numbers for all chips from each casino, rarity is sometimes a matter of perception at any given time rather than of hard information. Fortunately, the 3rd Edition of The Official U.S. Chip Price Guide written by James Campiglia and Steve Wells, published in 2005, lists over 10,000 chips, providing pictures and valuable information of almost all traded chips. Additionally, like with rare coins and other collectibles, auction and public sale prices are known and have been recorded for many years. Therefore, in cases where numbers extant are not precisely known, a consensus has been reached based on experience, observation, and the opinions of knowledgeable collectors across the country. A chip is categorized based on the following rarity scale. Each time the rarity rating drops a point, the population roughly doubles.

Rarity Scale Known Survivors

Unknown 0
Unique 1
R-10 Impossible 2-3
R-9 Exceedingly Rare 4-7
R-8 Extremely Rare 8-15
R-7 Very Rare 16-30
R-6 Rare 31-75
R-5 Very Scarce 76-150
R-4 Scarce 151-350
R-3 Fairly Common 351-750
R-2 Common 751-2000
R-1 Extremely Common 2000+

Research confirms that "Unknown" chips were definitely manufactured and used on the tables, but, unfortunately, no surviving examples are currently known to exist. R-6, in today's market, is officially the point where a chip becomes "rare". Future price escalation and hoarding may change this in the future as more and more collectors enter the hobby, but this is where Heritage Casino Chips currently focuses: on quality chips R-6 and above. Rare coin collectors understand the meaning of rarity - imagine owning a piece of coin history with the above population - which, in part, may account for the growing interest and number of collectors now buying casino chips as an addition to their other portfolios. Like rare coins, which are typically held by collectors for the long term, rare casino chips are very discreet and portable holdings that are regularly auctioned, bought and sold amongst hundreds of dealers worldwide.

The second major determinant of value is "condition". Although casino chips are made of fairly durable material, usually ceramic, faced with two chips which are identical in all respects except that one has faded coloring, rim nicks, or is worn, and the other is in original bright, almost new condition, there is little doubt which chip is the more valuable. Prior to 2003, one of the problems inherent in chip collecting was the lack of a standardized grading system. Today, however, the national chip collecting association, CC & GTCC (similar to the American Numismatic Association for the rare coin industry) has published the following set of standards to use when buying or selling chips:

1. New: Never used in games; square and round edge chips will be as from the manufacturer with absolutely no wear, no dings or nicks; no scratches on surface or inlay.
2. Slightly Used: Only slight signs of use, edge still crisp but ever so slightly dulled with very little wear; cross hatching may show slight wear near edge; few or no edge nicks; still retains luster in mold design; bold hot stamp; inlays excellent.
3. Average: Typical chip found in play after months/years of use; slightly rounded edges; will have minor defects such as small nicks on edges; inlays are beginning to show even wear and about half the cross hatching has worn from the body surface; hot stamps have dulled, beginning to show even wear and may be missing a small amount of foil.
4. Well Used: Moderate and uniform wear of edge, surface and hot stamp; noticeable edge nicks and/or surface scratches; no luster in mold design; cross hatching is nearly worn off; hot stamp is still readable but much of the foil is missing.
5. Poor: Edges that were formerly sharp and square, are now well worn like bicycle tires; original hot stamp foil is mostly missing with only the recesses visible (may have to hold towards a light); moderate to large chips (nicks); surface cross hatching barely visible (if at all); severe scratches to inlay or chip surface; severe color fading; partial wear up to half of Chipco design from the edge to the center of the chip. (Damage, such as cracks, breaks, missing inlay or other chip structure do not apply to this category.)

Even though there are five official grades, only the top three grades (new, slightly used, and average) are handled by Heritage Casino Chips. Other factors that influence a chip's value will be "location" - a famous, historically significant casino is much better than an obscure club - "aesthetic appeal" - in most cases, a chip with a nice picture inlay may be more desirable and valuable than a chip with a simple hot stamp, although there will be exceptions to this -- and "mold design" - serious collectors have definite preferences, such as the Arodie, Small-key, and Rectangle, as these were used in the classic era of chips.

Chips Are Beautiful

An obvious appeal is that chips are beautiful. They are miniature works of art designed by outstanding artists. Most chips are pictorial and highly decorative, with simple or intricate designs - remarkable portraits, casinos, gaming items, patterns, pretty women [Hooters opened their first casino in Las Vegas in February, 2006], celebrities, ships, flags, airplanes, animals, and other images. It is easy to understand that one of the deepest pleasures of chip collecting comes from merely examining the items of a collection, one by one, and savoring the loving artistry that has gone into their painstaking production. Casino chips are unique, often colorful pieces of history or of a personal experience. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?" Well, yes, but the collectible chips belong at home. They make beautiful, artistic displays and are fun to collect. You learn history, geography, and economics from studying the casino chips of a city, such as Las Vegas, a region, or a nation.

Tangible assets have long been considered a necessary diversification for wealth accumulation. Chips are private, portable, and provide deferred status for reporting purposes. Casino chip collecting is a relatively new hobby. As the world of gambling continues to grow and change, there will be more and more collectors interested in collecting and enjoying casino chips.

Based on all the abovementioned factors, most all our portfolio placements, therefore, will be chips in excess of $200-$300 each. You will find this differentiates us from most other chip dealers ("chippers"), the majority of whom are collectors selling as a part-time business. For Heritage, customer satisfaction is a serious, full-time business. We provide a full 100% money-back guarantee (less S&H) for any chip returned to us for any reason within seven (7) days. (Chip must be returned in the same condition and holder in which it was shipped.)