Replica Vintage Chips? (1 Viewer)

paintingwithsound

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Hello!

I have been looking for some replica style chips for what might have been used in the Old West, and have been having trouble finding anything even remotely similar that is available. I'm not a stickler for it being "exact", but even an Old West style inlay on a modern type poker chip would be of interest to me. Admittedly, my google-fu isn't that strong, but I have been unable to find anything. Can somebody please point me in the right direction?

Is a custom chip really the only answer?
 
You’re likely to find only chips that mimic the old west, not an authentic replica. In the mid to late 1800s, poker wasn’t played with chips as we know them. Likely played with coins, tokens, gold nuggets etc.
Something that really LOOKS like it may have been around since then would be the eBay auction above, or...as you guessed...a custom set to look that way.
 
Is a custom chip really the only answer?

It's not the only answer, but it might just end up being the best one! Don't go into a custom project lightly - there's an awful lot to learn and a more awful lot of money to spend, so be prepared.

I bet there's a lot of customs in the Hall of Fame that have Old West imagery!
 
@Mr Tree's Hitching Post sets have a cool old west feel. (hope it's ok I posted the pics)
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Thanks all for the quick responses! The eBay set doesn't seem to have enough to really play a game with. I like the two sets posted by Beakertwang and Kaimet, definitely an option. I'm thinking at the moment about just going the custom route, and designing the inlay similar to the very distinctive 19th Century style you see on the old ivory chips. Maybe with an "in-style" duck, cat, or horse on the reverse side.
 
I'm not an expert, but I believe that for the time period and locale that you're considering (i.e. "old west") there's basically two choices for chips - fancy carved ivory and rather plain dyed bone. I say that based on what I've seen in auctions from places like Potter and Potter, who occasionally have auctions focusing on antique gambling paraphernalia, and based on what I've seen turn up on eBay. Most poker chips that are earlier than around 1900 seem to be ivory or bone. "Clay composition" came on the scene in the late 1800s and was common throughout the early 1900s, until the synthetic plastic revolution. For pre-1900s there's also mother-of-pearl tokens, but those most commonly seem to be "gambling counters" of various odd shapes rather than the round chips we're familiar with.

This site has a huge collection of pictures of antique ivory chips; you can browse around to get an idea of what "old west" poker chips probably looked like.

Bone chips, on the other hand, don't seem to be much to look at. There's not a lot of examples to be found via google, and the examples that do turn up are usually quite plain - just colored circles. Here's a few examples:

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Getting a playable set of actual ivory chips is going to be somewhere between ruinously expensive and literally impossible.

I have seen a modern set of poker chips that were specifically designed to resemble antique ivories, but darned if I can remember where I saw them. I tried to find them again but had no luck; if I do run across them I'll let you know, but please don't hold your breath.

@ekricket had a great suggestion - there are some vintage chips from the early 1900s that have a somewhat similar style to the earlier ivories. Chips like these were made by the US Playing Card Company, you can see representative samples here. They turn up on eBay from time to time. They're not particularly valuable, but they're hard to find in playable quantities.

I think your best option is to engage a graphic designer (there are several here on PCF that do excellent work) and have them come up with a design that invokes the old west feel of vintage engraved ivory chips, and then have them custom-printed on ceramics by @ABC Gifts and Awards . You'll end up with a beautiful and unique set of chips with a great feel to them.

Just my two cents.

Welcome to the forum!
 
invokes the old west feel
Lol it’s funny but that never existed, as you pointed out above. But people search for it all the time, and not just poker chips. There’s a German word for something like that, a longing for a place you’ve never been. This is a longing for a representation of an era that never was.
 
Coming back to this for completeness, just in case anyone runs across this thread in the future:

I have seen a modern set of poker chips that were specifically designed to resemble antique ivories, but darned if I can remember where I saw them. I tried to find them again but had no luck; if I do run across them I'll let you know, but please don't hold your breath.

Found it!

1632928895936.png

These were sold at auction as part of the Robert Eisenstadt estate in Jan 2021. Here's the description:

California 1848 Gold Rush Fantasy Chips, with Caddy. Over 1,000 modern chips reproducing the style of 19th Century scrimshawed California chips, in denominations up to $1000, colors green, blue, pink, and black. Accompanied by a 1920s 400 chip poker carousel with four deck capacity.

BIDDING
Minimum Bid:$30.00
Final prices include buyers premium:$531.25
Estimate:$60 - $125
Number Bids:5

Link to the auction lot: https://auctions.potterauctions.com/_California_1848_Gold_Rush_Fantasy_Chips__with_Cad-LOT38480.aspx

I also found similar chips on worthpoint, meaning they've been on eBay at least once: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1848-california-gold-rush-poker-faro-1863283764

Remake of 1848 California gambling chips. 145 chips. Excellent condition.

1632929412436.png 1632929461047.png 1632929497705.png

So, for anyone looking to recreate the "old west" feel of poker chips like the OP was, consider this a source of inspiration.
 
I have 1500 of these in 3 wooden cases.
 

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Sweet! What are they like? They look like they're plastic with metal slug inserts, but it's hard to tell. Is the design actually etched / stamped into the surface? Or is it printed on?
 

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