The time before poker chips (1 Viewer)

[Brushbroom]

Ok so sadly my grandfather in law passed away recently. He lived in Vegas for like ever. He worked at much of old casinos from back in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Anyway my wife came across “casino dollar coins” and her dad (also from Vegas who worked at a bunch of old casinos back in the day) said those metal coins is what casinos used before chips. The ones they gave me are from Reno but they have a few from old Vegas too. He thinks it was around the mid-late 60’s before casinos went with chips. Anyone heard of this?

 

[CrazyEddie]

Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry for your loss.

Those are "casino tokens". They're different from poker chips. Casinos have used both chips and tokens for a very long time, but chips definitely have been in use much longer than tokens. Chips are used for games like poker, blackjack, and roulette; tokens were used in slot machines but have been replaced by paper slips or electronic cards.

Tokens are a type of coin, and so are of some interest to coin collectors. There's a thriving community of hobbyists who specifically collect casino tokens, quite separate from those who collect poker chips.

Here we mostly focus on poker chips, and things related to poker, and then somewhat incidentally things related to casinos and gambling in general. Undoubtedly there are some forum members who also collect tokens; perhaps they'll speak up here.

 

[sheikh617]

Welcome to the forum. My condolences to you and your family on your loss.

 

[upNdown]

They’re definitely slot machine dollar tokens and they were used at least as recently as the late 90’s, probably even more recently in some locations.

Edit: AND THEY WERE GLORIOUS! Imagine 50 or 100 of those clanging out of the machine to announce your win. And you had to carry them around in these giant plastic cups. And that’s the way it was and we loved it!

 

[Brushbroom]

Awesome y’all. I thought maybe PCF wasn’t the best place for information but man I was wrong. I got exactly what I was looking for! Thanks y’all! I’m not going to sell them or any, in fact I’ll use them a card protectors. Thanks again.

 

[buffalojim]

They’re definitely slot machine dollar tokens and they were used at least as recently as the late 90’s, probably even more recently in some locations.

Edit: AND THEY WERE GLORIOUS! Imagine 50 or 100 of those clanging out of the machine to announce your win. And you had to carry them around in these giant plastic cups. And that’s the way it was and we loved it!

Not to mention they turned your hand all sorts of dirty blackness. Miss those days. Winning a jackpot of like $800 or more in big ass heavy dollar tokens you had to travel in pairs to carry the buckets up to the cashier.

 

[allforcharity]

Sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing.

Yes those are definitely slot tokens. Used because they are the size and colour of dollar coins, and the sound of payout into a metal tray attracted attention and contributes to the dopamine rush of gambling.

I think the transition to purpose designed poker chips for use in casinos and home games is akin to humanity's evolution from nomadic hunter-gatherers to the establishment of a stable agrarian society.