What happens to old casino chips?
By Chris Kudialis, Las Vegas Review Journal
Millions of casino chips have been taken out of Nevada resorts this year by tourists and local visitors. Hundreds of thousands more expire when a casino ,like the Las Vegas Club, closes.
But while the final destination of the casino chips in the hands of tourists is anybody’s guess, the fate of expired chips, or ones from casinos on the way out, is more specific.
Casino chips are most often sent to their vendors and ground to pieces by large industrial machines, said Karl Bennison, chief of enforcement at the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
I remember the Harveys $1 metal chips. A few of my photos are on casinos chips, I keep em as a novelty item.
I remember dealing silver dollars. There wasn’t a paper dollar in the State of Nevada.
One fondly remembers walking out of Harrah’s or Harvey’s weighted down with pockets full of silver dollars, wonder if they can still be obtained, may be glad I saved several in my safe deposit box.
One of HARRAH’S high rollers would play nothing but silver…he would stack the silver as high as possible..the entire rack was filled with silver…he liked attention when he played. That was GR* on the ole fingers.
He was George tho:)….we made some money in the day…real money…lots of it:)
P.S. Read EVERY LIGHT WAS ON a compilation of interviews of people that knew Bill Harrah best. done by Dwayne Kling for the University of Nevada Reno Oral History program