TR King Crown Clay Chips -- monogramed - need assistance (2 Viewers)

PAscout

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Hi. I'm new here and need some assistance....I purchased these chips for my son as a gift and I want to get the details on them before I give them to him. I found the colors on another post on the forum. I made an attempt to properly identify them, yet I am a novice and would be happy to be corrected. Each is monogrammed with FAB (see pics) I am assuming the initials would be FBA. They do not seem to have ever been used -- the gold monogram is clear with no chips or scratches. I picked them up at a tag sale in Pennsylvania -- my son is 25 and has a degree in statistics and enjoys the casino memorobilia. Once I got them home, they seemed to be special. Any direction would be appreciated. This mom would love to impress the boy with some solid knowledge!

Box 1 -- 52 White and 52 Turquoise
Box 2 -- 52 Dark Blue and 52 Lt Gold
Box 3 -- 52 Red or Fire and 52 Black (these seem a bit faded)

Deepest thanks!
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Nice find! As you know. these are TR King "small crown" mold chips. Based on the boxes and the scraping marks, these were almost certainly custom-made sometime from the 1990s to 2006, as a personal set of chips. TRK sold hotstamped chips to the retail market, typically with the owner's monogram. Hard to tell from the pics, but the red chips are almost certainly Red, not Fire...at least based on how they look in the picture. TRK Fire is a more "electric" color than red. 50 of each color is an odd breakdown (I'm assuming the +2 were spares), so I'm not sure if these were bought by a poker player or for some other purpose.
 
FWIW, TRK chips are considered by some (including me) to be some of the best chips, overall. They have a cult following. The mold, the colors, the feel, the history...all make them pretty amazing. TRK was a very small, family-run operation in Los Angeles, and are a premium manufacturer, with a storied past. Their chips, while not as well-known as Paulson chips or others, are at least the equal to those chips and certain TRKs are highly coveted.
 
These look like chips made for the home market.

Are they all scraped on the face like the ones pictured?
Hi. Yes! They are scraped on both sides with no damage to the monogram.

And welcome to the forum!
Thanks! I love learning about new things! This has been a facinating journey so far!

FWIW, TRK chips are considered by some (including me) to be some of the best chips, overall. They have a cult following. The mold, the colors, the feel, the history...all make them pretty amazing. TRK was a very small, family-run operation in Los Angeles, and are a premium manufacturer, with a storied past. Their chips, while not as well-known as Paulson chips or others, are at least the equal to those chips and certain TRKs are highly coveted.
Thanks for the info. I really like them!! They just feel "cool"!

Nice find! As you know. these are TR King "small crown" mold chips. Based on the boxes and the scraping marks, these were almost certainly custom-made sometime from the 1990s to 2006, as a personal set of chips. TRK sold hotstamped chips to the retail market, typically with the owner's monogram. Hard to tell from the pics, but the red chips are almost certainly Red, not Fire...at least based on how they look in the picture. TRK Fire is a more "electric" color than red. 50 of each color is an odd breakdown (I'm assuming the +2 were spares), so I'm not sure if these were bought by a poker player or for some other purpose.
Thanks -- this is very helpful! If he decides to sell them, it will give him some direction. This is facinating to me!!

Those turquoise are beautiful!!! I want I want
I'm not sure if my son will wanto to sell them, but I will let you know what he thinks!
 
Yep, chippers would consider that a great gift. If he doesn't like them feel free to sell them on the forum
 
Beautiful chips and congratulations on the find. My mother has gifted me chips on occasion in the past, they will always have special meaning.
 
I'm not sure it's 100% clear from the responses above -- the company that produced these chips (TR King), no longer produces chips. Some people (me included) believe that the chips from this manufacturer are the best chips ever produced. And since they're no longer making chips....there is a limited supply of these. You've found some great chips here.
 
Somebody want to fill me in on the scraping? I guess I don't follow TRK chips too closely, because that's a new one to me.
 
Somebody want to fill me in on the scraping? I guess I don't follow TRK chips too closely, because that's a new one to me.
My understanding is there was 'flashing' around the stamp when TRK did a hot stamp. Basically, a little bit of squished out chip material and maybe stamp foil from the process that stood up above the surface. As a courtesy to the recipient (even casinos!), they would scrape the flashing from the face of the chip before shipping them.

I have older TRKs in my singles collection that show this.

This could be part of the reason why CPC can't hot stamp small crowns they make.
 
Hi. I'm new here and need some assistance....I purchased these chips for my son as a gift and I want to get the details on them before I give them to him. I found the colors on another post on the forum. I made an attempt to properly identify them, yet I am a novice and would be happy to be corrected. Each is monogrammed with FAB (see pics) I am assuming the initials would be FBA. They do not seem to have ever been used -- the gold monogram is clear with no chips or scratches. I picked them up at a tag sale in Pennsylvania -- my son is 25 and has a degree in statistics and enjoys the casino memorobilia. Once I got them home, they seemed to be special. Any direction would be appreciated. This mom would love to impress the boy with some solid knowledge!

Box 1 -- 52 White and 52 Turquoise
Box 2 -- 52 Dark Blue and 52 Lt Gold
Box 3 -- 52 Red or Fire and 52 Black (these seem a bit faded)

Deepest thanks!
View attachment 738903View attachment 738904
View attachment 738902
PAscout ,
Welcome to the forum !!!!!
Other than Paulson chips - the TRK chips -
Large Crown & Small Crown - are very collectible . You have made a nice score when you found these chips .
As Luke has mentioned in his post - the chips were sent to Muncie , PA in 2001 .
 
Those are amazing chips! TR King like many have said above are some of the nicest chips that were ever manufactured. The feel, sound, look and everything about them is why I love them so much. I think your son is really going to love those chips! I'm sure once he gets them they won't be the only TRKs he'll end up having. Chips may seem "faded" as well because they haven't been used. Most likely have sat in those boxes since they were purchased back in the day. A little bit of oil, I hope, would make them pop really well and give them that shine.

If anyone was looking for a little bit more history or background to TR King, I made a video a while back about the history and showing some of the nicest sets that I've ever seen. I'll link it here below.

 
These chips were made in 2001 and shipped to a Diana Romania at RR3, Box 415A, Muncy, PA. They were made in 6 colors (so you have all the colors that were produced).
WOW!!! That's amazing! Thanks for the info. Now I am wondering about the monogram.
 
My understanding is there was 'flashing' around the stamp when TRK did a hot stamp. Basically, a little bit of squished out chip material and maybe stamp foil from the process that stood up above the surface. As a courtesy to the recipient (even casinos!), they would scrape the flashing from the face of the chip before shipping them.

You are correct AD! From my TRK brochure

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@PAscout, PAZ was perhaps a bit too modest to direct to his T. R. King tribute website (http://www.trking.com/) which has more information about the history of the company and their chips.
Thanks! that site has been very helpful and interesting!! @PAZ has a good friend in you!

Yep, chippers would consider that a great gift. If he doesn't like them feel free to sell them on the forum
Thanks! I invited him to join the forum!
 

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