Casino tokens, also known as casino or gaming chips, checks, or cheques, are small discs used in lieu of currency in casinos. Colored metal, injection-molded plastic 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.
Casino tokens are also widely used as play money in casual or tournament games.
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Some casinos also use casino tokens for promotional events. For example, a casino might offer a token to a player who makes a royal flush at a video poker machine.
The token gives the player the right to play another game at the casino without having to put more money into the machine.
Casino tokens are made in a variety of materials. 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 clay. Several companies between the 1880s and the late 1930s made clay composition poker chips. There were over 1000 designs from which to choose.
Most chips were white, red or blue, but there were other colors available on request. Newer materials included metals such as aluminum and stainless steel; however these tended to be used for commemorative or presentation purposes only rather than for general use in a casino. .
The first token-operated gambling machines appeared in Brooklyn in 1891 and were called “poker machines” or “penny slots”. These machines proved extremely popular among gamblers and soon became ubiquitous in New York City bars and Brooklyn cigar stores.
The first casino to adopt them was Brighton Beach Racetrack on Coney Island which operated them from about 1894 until 1910 when they were outlawed by the State of New York.[citation needed] In 1902 San Francisco banned their use outright.[citation needed].
During World War II American soldiers stationed abroad began playing poker using any materials they could find including strips of cloth ripped from military uniforms.[1] These improvised “chips” led eventually to the development of proper chips made of cellulose acetate and clay composite which are more durable and less subject to counterfeiting.[1]
Clay chips were introduced around 1868[2] and were made by molding clay around a metal slug that had been stamped with an image.[3][4] The molding process allowed for more intricate designs including copies of famous paintings,[5][6][7] political cartoons,[8][9] and other designs that wouldn’t be possible with coinage.[10]
Early clay chips were brittle and prone to chipping when handled roughly but later versions were hardened making them more resilient to damage.[11][12]
Tokens are utilized for several reasons:
* They eliminate the need for currency exchange at casinos which can save time.
* They can act as IOUs between players (e.g., I’ll give you five $1 chips for that $5 bill).
* They help casinos keep track of how much each patron is gambling so they can extend credit if needed (Tokens can’t be exchanged for cash without going through the cage first).
* They’re an easy way for casinos to give out prizes (e.g., A certain number of tokens gets you a free buffet).
* They’re often used instead of cash at carnivals and bingo halls (so players don’t have to carry around large amounts of cash).
* They make it easy to segregate players by how much they’re betting (e.g., high rollers vs. small stakes players).
* Some home poker games use chips instead of cash so there’s no need to make frequent trips to the ATM.
While most casinos use white, red, and blue chips worth 1?, 5?, and 25? respectively,[13][14][15] some casinos have introduced green 25? chips,[16][17] purple 50? chips,[18] pink 500? chips,[19][20] yellow 1 000? chips,[21][22][23] orange 5 000? chips,[24][25][26] black 10 000?[27][28][29] or gray 100 000?[30] chips (or cheques). Larger denominations such as $500 or $1000 are either coin-operated or electronically operated meters that keep track of how much credit is available (much like a slot machine does). High denomination chips ($25000+) exist; however their utility as currency is very limited since most establishments prohibit patrons from cashing them out directly for cash.[31]. When cashing out high denomination chip(s), some casinos require that these be accompanied by an ID card or note signed by a pit boss verifying that the signature on file matches that on the back of the chip(s). This is either done before entering the casino floor or at a special cage set up for this purpose located near the casino cage. In both cases identification is necessary because large sums tend not change hands very often at these high levels—if ever—so tracking who bought what would otherwise be quite difficult if not impossible without some sort of interventionist record keeping.
[citation needed]. Also unique colors are assigned per denomination making it easier for security cameras to track any one specific chip should it leave the premises (casinos have been known to hire exterior firms specializing in tracking down wayward high value chips). Lastly many countries have anti-money laundering lAWS that require casinos to track all large transactions (thus necessitating yet another layer of record keeping). As such it is very difficult if not impossible for someone outside the industry itself—be they professional criminals or amateur cheats—to successfully create false high denomination casino tokens although low value fakes do exist (usually created by coloring lower denomination tokens). All legitimate casinos worldwide strictly adhere to these anti-money laundering policies so anyone attempting anything even remotely shady will almost certainly get caught eventually if they persist long enough.[32]. .In short, while early casino tokens were indeed silver, most modern ones are not. Today’s tokens are made from a variety of materials including metal, plastic, and even clay composites – but silver is no longer commonly used.
While there are still some silver tokens in circulation from older casinos, most new ones will be made from other materials.
