Those of us who have watched too many westerns over the years likely have an idealized version of the typical wild west saloon. Roughhewn wooden floors, a long bar littered with whisky glasses, pretty girls in fluffy dresses and poker tables filled with men and their six-shooters.
Back then the ante was six bits or maybe a silver dollar. Now fast forward to modern-day Las Vegas, and the picture is a little different. Other than the poker tables, it’s quite a stretch to connect one with the other. And since doing so will undoubtedly strain my literary skills, let’s talk about their one commonality: poker. Or more specifically, poker chips.
As it happens, poker chips didn’t come along until just before the 20th century. Before that, pretty much anything that was small and had perceived value could be used as chips. Examples included gold nuggets, rings and jewelry, deeds to property and even guns.
Eventually, however, saloons trying to codify the game began to make chips representing differing monetary values. Materials used depended on the region and prosperity of the particular saloon, but most were fabricated out of bone, clay, wood and occasionally ivory. Sizes varied from rectangular to somewhat fish-shaped but eventually a round coin-like size became the configuration of choice.
As for the game itself, its closest predecessor was poque and pochen — French and German, respectively — both growing out of a 16th century Spanish card game called primero. The French brought poque to their American territories, and the name was eventually anglicized to poker. By the time of the Civil War (1861-65), poker had become a popular five card game played with a 52-card deck. Over the ensuing years, a different version of poker evolved, among them being the now famous Texas hold ’em as the basis for the annual World Series of Poker.
Returning to poker chips, the rise of the 20th century casino industry was largely responsible for turning poker chips into a collectibles category. Today there is a Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club that holds a well-attended convention every year in Las Vegas. Chips from small or defunct casinos are highly sought, and not long ago a $5 chip from the Golden Goose casino traded hands for a whopping $75,000.
Boxed sets are especially valued, as are early mother-of-pearl chips frequently used in Asian casinos during the 1920s. Not surprisingly, casinos love it when you keep their poker chips since they have your money in return. Limited edition poker chips, such as those made specifically for tournaments, are catnip for collectors as well.
Here in southern California, casinos throughout the region all issue their own chips in a wide variety of colors and designs. Most casino gift shops sell them as do antique galleries like ours.
Among the most notorious early chips are those made in the 1920s and marked with a swastika — at the time a native American symbol of good fortune and before that a Hindu religious mark representing prosperity and luck. Interestingly, the right-facing swastika as appropriated by Nazi Germany is different from the left-facing sauvastika that carries other meanings.
In any event, swastika-marked poker chips sell at a premium but nowhere near a Geoffrey Parker set of 384 bejeweled chips that will set you back a cool $7.5 million.
Sorry, but we are plum out of those at the moment.
Mike Rivkin and his wife, Linda, are long-time residents of Rancho Mirage. For many years, he was an award-winning catalogue publisher and has authored seven books, along with countless articles. Now, he’s the owner of Antique Galleries of Palm Springs. His antiques column appears Sundays in The Desert Sun. Want to send Mike a question about antiques? Drop him a line at info@silverfishpress.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Antiques: Putting your chips on the table versus in your pocket
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