For the growing hobby of collecting casino gaming chips, instant and easy access to a free photo database to authenticate and date a newfound chip is an enthusiast’s dream come true. That dream is a reality, thanks to the Museum of Gaming History (MoGH), an educational project of the Casino Collectibles Association (CCA). Over 10 years in the making, and drawing on over 76,000 submissions from over 1,200 contributors and club members, the non-profit MoGH has painstakingly built an online database of over a quarter million gaming chip photos. The free online database is called the ChipGuide, a website which has just undergone an upgrade and revitalization that adds even more gaming chip information.
The recently updated Museum of Gaming History ChipGuide website is a free resource that provides handy photo and background information on over 280,000 gaming chips and memorabilia from worldwide casinos.
Serious and first-time amateur collectors alike can easily find pictorial documentation of many denominations of current and obsolete casino gaming chips from open, closed and even illegal casinos, as well as those produced for fraternal organizations and promotional purposes. Simply go the website, click on a state or interest icon, and the clickable casinos and organizations are listed in alphabetical order.
Each gaming chip photo includes information on the chip’s date of issue, color, mold and inlay. Also included are data on the casino, including opening (and closed) dates and address, complete with a handy Google Maps location link. When submitted, photos of memorabilia such as matchbooks, ashtrays, room keys and postcards are also included.
“The goal of the latest update of the ChipGuide was to take collector-driven input from our one thousand-plus CCA club members and other collectors and present the information in a very simple-to-use format,” said Charles Kaplan, ChipGuide chair and webmaster. “Any interested collector can submit gaming chip and memorabilia photos and data via the ChipGuide website. A staff of volunteer administrators evaluates and posts an average of about 200 contribution updates per day – and each contributor is recognized on the site.”
The ChipGuide covers only fact-based gaming chip and casino memorable information – subjective material such as monetary value is not included. To visit the ChipGuide, go to http://chipguide.themogh.org.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF GAMING HISTORY
The Museum of Gaming History is an educational project of the Casino Collectibles Association, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) club devoted to the fast-growing hobby of collecting casino memorabilia. With the mission of preserving gaming history, the Museum of Gaming History is currently an expanding series of kiosk exhibits in Las Vegas located within The El Cortez and Plaza casinos, the Nevada State, Mob and Neon Museums, and recently the National Atomic Testing Museum. A single permanent location is the ultimate goal.
The world’s largest casino chip and token collection, as recognized by Guinness World Records, will proudly be on display at the Casino Collectibles Association’s annual show June 16 -18, 2022, at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas. Featuring collectors, dealers and exhibitors of casino memorabilia from all over the world, the convention is open to the public.
