Newbie collector....Mapes chips question (1 Viewer)

Pony

Two Pair
Supporter
Joined
May 19, 2022
Messages
383
Reaction score
627
Location
Orygun
I've been reading through here and there, don't know that I saw anything related to this (apologies if there is a thread somewhere);

As someone just starting to get "further" into chip collecting (for me right now it's the Mapes) - I'm surprised that certain Mapes chips seem to be harder to find. For example, the blue $5 chips and red $25 chips seems to be more common than the yellow $1 chip. And as someone that's sometimes come home from the casinos with chips in my pockets - I would have guessed that the $1 chips would be more abundant, based on several factors (value of the dollar at the time, people not being worried about cashing in a couple of $1 chips, chip production numbers, etc).

Is/was there anything that would account for this I'm not thinking of? It makes sense that $100 chips would be harder to find.....but the $1 chips?
 
I've been reading through here and there, don't know that I saw anything related to this (apologies if there is a thread somewhere);

As someone just starting to get "further" into chip collecting (for me right now it's the Mapes) - I'm surprised that certain Mapes chips seem to be harder to find. For example, the blue $5 chips and red $25 chips seems to be more common than the yellow $1 chip. And as someone that's sometimes come home from the casinos with chips in my pockets - I would have guessed that the $1 chips would be more abundant, based on several factors (value of the dollar at the time, people not being worried about cashing in a couple of $1 chips, chip production numbers, etc).

Is/was there anything that would account for this I'm not thinking of? It makes sense that $100 chips would be harder to find.....but the $1 chips?
The reason the $1s are harder to find now a days is because a majority of them are spoken for with collectors in their sets. Some of these guys probably have a few hundred of them for a playable set when these chips were able to be bought for a good price. Chips like Mapes, Money Tree, Riverside and other casinos that used TRKs have become highly sought after because you can find chips like that today. Sure Paulsons are great chips, but IMO TRKs are top tier.

There may be a day that people will start to sell their Mapes sets or start to let them fly, but when that happens people are going to be ready to jump on them. This goes with all chips that people are after. Especially if they are at a great price. Something that people don't see often and I can say it myself I'll jump onto a deal if I can get it.

The hourglass mold chips aren't sought after as the TRKs. That mold is something that people don't like and I'm not sure if there are a ton of people that even know about the mold/enjoy it. I know that its more of a vintage mold. There are a few people I know that have some of them. I've seen more of the $5s than the $25s so not too sure about where those might be.

All in all I can say that those people that have Mapes TRK sets at this time are probably not going to sell them for a while. They are amazing chips and everyone knows how hard it can be to get a single. That can be a $1, orange $5, teal $25 and $100. Many would love to have a $100, and you are right that those they created much less of than the other denominations and many people wouldn't have walked out of the casino with on in their pocket.

I'll give you this information too:

"I spoke with Mike Spinetti at the 2015 CC&GTCC. He told me he purchased 25K chips on auction when the Mapes closed down I the 80's. Spinetti stated only 1000 of those were $1 chips. Spinettis store is sold out (in bulk) of all denominations but $5 chips which they now sell for $300 a rack." This comes from @AfterTheFact's thread when he was selling some Mapes in 2015. Just to give you an idea about how many of the chips are out there or should be out there. Gives you an idea as to how many sets might be made of them...
 
2, maybe three?
Not too sure, I think I've seen 4-5 possibly (that could probably account for 4,000 chips). Still has a way to go thinking about 25k chips, but who knows who has them... Can't remember off the top of my head, but I have done some digging on here into some late late nights.
 
I'm not so sure the 25k chips were specifically TRKs. Mapes had several issues on various molds. All desirable, but some more so than others.

At least 5 playable TRK Mapes sets exist with 100s.
 
Very true that all of them weren't TRKs, but those are most likely the ones that everyone would like.
 
Got it. Seems strange that not many $1 chips were sold at auction. I've noticed all of those 1969(?) mfg'd Mapes chips are about impossible to find.

I greatly appreciate the responses.....
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom