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Casino poker tokens (also known as chips, checks or cheques) are small discs used in lieu of currency in casinos. Colored metal or compression molded clay tokens of various denominations are used primarily in table games, as opposed to metal token coins, used primarily in slot machines.
Some casinos also use gaming plaques for high stakes table games ($25,000 and above). Plaques differ from chips in that they are larger, usually rectangular in shape and contain serial numbers.
Although the first gambling house was legalised in Venice in 1626, actual poker chips as we know them now were still not used for over two hundred more years. Back in the 1800s and prior, poker players seemed to use any small valuable object imaginable. Early poker players sometimes used jagged gold pieces, gold nuggets, gold dust, or coins as well as "chips" primarily made of ivory, bone, wood, paper and a composition made from clay and shellac. Several companies between the 1880s and the late 1930s made clay composition poker chips. There were over 1000 designs from which to choose.
Casino chip collecting became increasingly popular beginning in 1988, with the establishment of the Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club (CC>CC). The club was formed after it was realised how popular the hobby had become and how many people were involved in it. The club held its first annual convention at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in 1992. The convention still runs to this day and in 2008 will be held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino.
As the number of collectors grew, the demand for an official grading system grew and the club realised one would have to be agreed on as to determine the value of the chips. In 2003, members of the CC>CC agreed on a grading system that would be used worldwide. This also came with the publication of the club's book, The Official U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide, now in its 3rd edition. Some chips are considered high-value and some worth up to $50,000. The largest recorded sale for a casino chip to date is $39,000.
