Thank you all for the help! (1 Viewer)

[shortstaffed]

I've been lurking on this forum for awhile. Years back, I had an ASM 'A' mold tourney set that I eventually sold. Before the pandemic hit, I was getting back into poker through a local home game and had decided that I wanted to take the game to a different level. I didn't want to spend too much on what is usually a $10 cash game or tourney, but I really missed the feel and sound of real clay. On top of that, I briefly dealt while in school and it is just so much easier and cleaner to handle, stack and cut clays. Truth be told, I almost enjoy dealing as much as playing. Almost.

Short story long, I encountered this chip set on Craigslist and happened to be vacationing nearby. Without this forum, I would have known nothing about the Small Greek Key mold, B.C. Wills (via Burt Co) and even expected chip weight. Thanks to everyone.

251 chip set. Ended up paying $.44/chip. Probably a bit much but worth it for me, especially after they were cleaned and oiled. Nearly all of the solids and the deep black insert chips stack well. Sadly, the chips with the gray edge spots are more wobbly, with more flea bites and are so close in color that they won't realistically serve as separate denominations.

The chips are light (7g) but that really doesn't bother me- they shuffle really well.

Does the 'B' stamp mean that these were probably once Roulette chips? Also, any advice on sharpening up the look of the recessed hot stamp? There is no recessed area for a label, sadly.

Lastly, these chips recently showed up here on the 'I.D.' section... thankfully, the inserts are not drawn-on but they still aren't the sharpest.

Whoops. 451 chips, I mean.

 

[allforcharity]

Hello and welcome!

 

[wolfpack]

I love key molds, may be my all tome favorite.

You could try milling thm and applying your own labels.

 

[shortstaffed]

I love key molds, may be my all tome favorite.

You could try milling thm and applying your own labels.

Very grateful for the suggestion. I am handy but not a pro... by 'milling do you mean something like a drill press to the center of the chip and shaving enough of a recess for a label?
These chips are so light already; the label had better be weighty plastic.

 

[FordPickup92]

Very grateful for the suggestion. I am handy but not a pro... by 'milling do you mean something like a drill press to the center of the chip and shaving enough of a recess for a label?
These chips are so light already; the label had better be weighty plastic.

@Josh Kifer
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/forums/kifer-milling-co.105/

 

[wolfpack]

Very grateful for the suggestion. I am handy but not a pro... by 'milling do you mean something like a drill press to the center of the chip and shaving enough of a recess for a label?
These chips are so light already; the label had better be weighty plastic.

Yes with a drill pess

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...-setup-tutorial-with-details-and-links.55889/

 

[CrazyEddie]

Oh, those are nice. I love the small greek key. A full set of vintage molded clay with a classic design in a nice vintage case, I imagine you'll be happy with those. I think that was a good find. Old chips like that usually get sold as singles; finding a playable set with that kind of edge mold is unusual.

I'm not the expert here, but I suspect that this was sold as a custom set for a home game. The hotstamp was probably the customer's monogram, single letter notwithstanding. If they were made for a casino or club, you probably wouldn't have found them in that case. And they were probably for poker, not roulette; a home roulette game wouldn't need a letter designating the table unless they were running multiple tables, and a roulette breakdown would have a balanced selection of colors rather than having more of one color and fewer of another color, as your set does.

... but like I said, I'm not the expert, so perhaps someone else will correct me.

If it were me, I'd be torn as to whether or not to mill and relabel them. On the one hand, there's some history there; it's a neat feeling to have a playable set like this and know that it's still in its original condition. On the other hand, you could turn them into an absolutely amazing custom set by using custom labels; they'd look beautiful and they'd be unique to you and you'd have the satisfaction of knowing that the set was built on a classic, vintage, no-longer-made mold.

I'm kinda jealous, really.

 

[charitycase]

Thanks for posting some prOn.
Welcome to the poker chip forum.

 

[shortstaffed]

Thanks for the kind words and input / info, CrazyEddie. Before I ever found these, I fell in love with the Paulson Starbursts, but I'm probably too cheap to ever buy Paulsons. I appreciate the vintage look of the SGK and kinda don't want denoms, so I probably won't mess with labels.
But... would it ruin the look (or collector value) to take a gold or silver paint pen and re-trace the hot-stamp impression?

 

[SpaceMonkey420]

I think those are great and worth every penny Of 44 cents each. Nice job! Love em!

 

[SpaceMonkey420]

Not to mention the rest of your life you will remember the vacation u got them on. Win Win.

 

[CrazyEddie]

@shortstaffed - I dunno why I missed your reply back in September. As far as touching up the hotstamps - I honestly couldn't tell you. I think it's a neat idea! You should probably give it a try with one of the more common chips and see what you think of the results. If it were me, I wouldn't worry about the resale value, I'd just do whatever looks good to me (meaning, to you!).

I have some engraved vintage chips like these. Often the paint has worn out of the engraved lines, like on the edges of the blue chip below. I plan to touch them up with some new paint at some point - smearing it into the grooves and wiping it off the surface while it's still wet - but I haven't actually tried it yet so I'm not certain it's going to work. I'm hopeful, though.

 

[allforcharity]

@shortstaffed - I plan to touch them up with some new paint at some point - smearing it into the grooves and wiping it off the surface while it's still wet - but I haven't actually tried it yet so I'm not certain it's going to work. I'm hopeful, though.

In model and miniature painting, this is known as a "wash" - using very dilute paint to fill the crevices (you may have to do this several times). Don't wipe it off the surface, though. Match the base colour of the chip with some other paint and do a "drybrush" technique afterward to restore the colour and clean it up.

 

[CrazyEddie]

Thanks for the pointer! I'm not sure a wash/drybrush will have the effect I'm looking for, but I'm sure I'll end up trying a bunch of techniques (including that one!) before being satisfied.

 

[warma]

I love old, cheap chips. There’s history there, and we’ll never know what it was. But you can just about guarantee there were bad beats, great wins, laughs, and tears behind those chips.

 

[JMC9389]

shortstaffed, eh? You must work in healthcare. Welcome aboard!

 

[DZPoker]

Very nice! Great start to the addiction!