Bond, James Bond. Plaques now found!!! (1 Viewer)

[UKcollector]

I am now the proud owner of the plaques (of the type) shown in the iconic Baccarat scene from Dr No. I may even have the ones used (if I knew what the serial numbers were I probably have) although lots are ruined, there should be some of decent quality left. These are 100% genuinely from the casino itself and are beautiful to look at. The £5s were used in "A hard day's night" and can clearly be seen. As to the Dr No ones, £10, £50, £100 and £500 were all seen in the film (not 100% sure about the £10s but process of elimination implies that) and there are some survivors. Not sure on the numbers yet as not gone through them properly but there are a lot that have rotted/deteriorated which is a shame but they have been in a barn for almost 30 years so.........lucky to see any survive I suppose. I also have the jetons and chips too which are almost as beautiful, in their own way, which I hope to make up into playable sets if enough.

 

[FordPickup92]

@Ben8257

 

[Phantom]

@Norman

 

[Amish Rabbi]

That is pretty amazing

 

[kmccormick100]

Woah! Any chance of offering a few sample sets? Interested to see the other chips/jetons as well

@Fleming and @Phantom will love these

 

[Phantom]

Woah! Any chance of offering a few sample sets? Interested to see the other chips/jetons as well

@Fleming and @Phantom will love these

So good mate

 

[allforcharity]

Woah! Any chance of offering a few sample sets? Interested to see the other chips/jetons as well

@Fleming and @Phantom will love these

Hey, me too!

 

[UKcollector]

Never seen a £500 metal token but wow...............
Still need a bit more of a clean but numbered and oversized.
Not many of them but they are impressive.

And now the high values from later on...........
Large £5000 is much earlier and a "monster"!!

Woah! Any chance of offering a few sample sets? Interested to see the other chips/jetons as well

@Fleming and @Phantom will love these

To be honest, the way it's going there won't be many plaque sets but the jetons will manage to stretch to playable sets I reckon. Chips too if the mould comes off okay. I will be putting better photos up as I go along............

 

[UKcollector]

The full set of jeton denominations now known. The £2 and £20 were unknown until today!!
I may well have a few of these so sets will probably be available in the near future.
Lots more photos to follow, if any interest.

 

[Norman]

The full set of jeton denominations now known. The £2 and £20 were unknown until today!!
I may well have a few of these so sets will probably be available in the near future.
Lots more photos to follow, if any interest.

Definitely interested in anything BOND!!!!!!!!!!

 

[UKcollector]

Definitely interested in anything BOND!!!!!!!!!!

The only stuff that is Bond related really are the plaques (as you know) but Le Cercle was a prestigious Club so with any luck there will be interest in the jetons, chips and other stuff too even without the direct link. Even Beatles fans may want some.
I even have table signs!! 2 round plaques from outside Les A. A PB shoe!
Plus a few 1000 generic colour chips, yachts, triangle inside circle and fleur de lys plus a few Letters (E, J, K).
The early ones are beautiful (although mainly well worn) with some great molds (Small Greek Key, Jockey, HHR etc).
They really were much classier in those days.
Even the later decimal ones were stylish. Looks like 3 variations on some so that'll take a while to figure out.
I think I've died and gone to......wherever I'm meant to go.
Still working my way through it, ups and downs. Lots of wastage but at long as I get a couple of decent examples of every one (myself and a friend) and a few to sell on to recoup some of my outlay (obviously) I'll be well happy. I think I've bored the missus to death though.

 

[Amish Rabbi]

Those ch chips are pretty nice

 

[UKcollector]

Mind you, she enjoyed chipping this little lot up, I bloody well didn't. Nah it was a laugh, reminded us of the good old days. Took a while but all sorted and bagged now. The "lammers" and marker buttons were in there too. And a small handful of balls!! Weighs a flaming ton though. I believe these were the last ones in use at the club (1990s) but could well be wrong. Anybody with any info that could help, please feel free to get in touch. Hope you enjoy seeing the photos.

 

[ChipEnvy]

Dibs! I love plaques (especially those with history).

 

[FDLmold]

You literally got the whole casino. Nice!

 

[ChipEnvy]

So how did you track these down to a barn?

 

[UKcollector]

You literally got the whole casino. Nice!

What was left of it after all these years but yeah it looks that way.

 

[UKcollector]

So how did you track these down to a barn?

Pure luck, pure dumb luck.

 

[FDLmold]

With the Bond provenance, the sky is the limit on those plaques. Sylvia Trench, Bond, the cigarette, Sean Connery going "Bond, James Bond", all in the presence of at least some of those plaques. They cover several collecting niches (movie memorabilia, James Bond, British casino plaques). That's a nice pickup.

 

[UKcollector]

With the Bond provenance, the sky is the limit on those plaques. Sylvia Trench, Bond, the cigarette, Sean Connery going "Bond, James Bond", all in the presence of at least some of those plaques. They cover several collecting niches (movie memorabilia, James Bond, British casino plaques). That's a nice pickup.

I know, I'm still in shock. I actually expect to die pretty soon as that'd be more my sort of luck. Fingers crossed I'll manage to sort them out and get some sent off beforehand. Best find I've ever stumbled across and doubt I'll ever top it, which is fine as I don't think my heart would stand another score like this.
As I said, lots are totally ruined so the more I save the better I'll feel and the more that'll get out to the collector's market so they can get to where they should be, in collections to admire and enjoy the beauty of the old style casino stuff from London. And the added history is a massive bonus too obviously.

 

[FDLmold]

When you say totally ruined, are you talking disintegrated beyond recognition? All the text and graphics are gone?

Don't be too hasty with "ruined". They have harvested chips out of poured concrete foundations in Vegas and still gotten people to buy them.

 

[UKcollector]

When you say totally ruined, are you talking disintegrated beyond recognition? All the text and graphics are gone?

Don't be too hasty with "ruined". They have harvested chips out of poured concrete foundations in Vegas and still gotten people to buy them.

The oldest ones (pre Bond I believe) have disintegrated and covered everything else in a fine dust. They stink to high heaven and lots are wet (damp and rat's?) but letting them dry out and will go from there. The chips are covered in a scary looking mould and a small amount of the jetons have started to "bubble" a little so..................We'll see what happens after the dust settles.

 

[FDLmold]

In the USA, we call that an EPA Superfund cleanup site. I hope you are well-ventilated.

 

[UKcollector]

In the USA, we call that an EPA Superfund cleanup site. I hope you are well-ventilated.

Those are all outside in a thick bag well away from the rest (and us) and will be looked at last just because I can't bear to throw away too much just yet.
Considering we drove 1060 miles with the awful formaldehyde smell (worst were in the bags by then and at the bottom of the boxes) I'm surprised our lungs weren't embalmed. Stinking colds probably helped. If you don't hear anything from me again, you'll know why.

 

[FDLmold]

For those curious, I saw all the plaques from the OP in this except the 10-pound. The 500s are hiding in Bond's stack, with the 5s on top.

 

[grantc54]

Never seen a £500 metal token but wow...............
Still need a bit more of a clean but numbered and oversized.
Not many of them but they are impressive.

Those £500 metal token's are pretty cool. Nice find!

 

[ChipEnvy]

The unicorn graphic is fitting. Great find.

 

[UKcollector]

For those curious, I saw all the plaques from the OP in this except the 10-pound. The 500s are hiding in Bond's stack, with the 5s on top.

At about 18 seconds in, look at the 3 people's plaques closest to the camera and then get back to me. I think they are the £10s as no others look the same size. One each and one in the chap's hand next to the dealer. The blues would stand out so...................

 

[FDLmold]

Can't be anything but the 10s in that shot now that you point them out. Director probably said use all the plaques to make it colorful, give all these other losers the small plaques, and have Bond and Trench play for 100 pounds a hand. Which in 1962 was large. Probably a month's wages for an average Joe. Connery is nothing but class in the whole scene.

 

[UKcollector]

That's what I think too.
Did you check out when James finished and he puts his plaques together? When he hands them over they are in the "correct" order but they weren't when he put them together at the table. The £50 is in the middle not at the top, yes? The £500s certainly weren't on the bottom as passed over. Or is it me just going "mad"?