Coin Slot Magazine - #075 - 1981 - May [International Arcade Museum]
six casinos: John Ascauga's Nugget,
Lake
culated alongside the tokens for
several years, slowly replacing them.
Tahoe; Harvey's, Stateline; etc. These
The tokens of the late 1960's were still
distinctive tokens are all copper with
usable and redeemable until about
Sparks;
IMAGE
AREA
designs and
And
casinos in 1965, in hopes of obtaining
their orders for tokens to take the
place of the extinct silver dollars.
Harrah's Club in Reno and Lake
Tahoe was the first casino to get ap
token.
lettering
incuse (sunk
Ore.,
Engineering
issued
Co.,
those tokens, which were mostly out
die cast zinc
of circulation by that time anyway. The
alloy with chrome plating tokens (for
only gaming tokens then in use were
Harolds Club, Reno: Honest John's, Las
tokens that were good only to operate
Vegas;
the $2 and $5 slot machines.
etc.) which
didn't stack well
But then suddenly the whole thing
because of the slick chrome plating.
But by far the majority of the tokens
started over again in short order.The
were made by the Franklin Mint. The
government decided to abandon the
Franklin Mint is well known for its is
tokens
Ike dollar in favor of the small Susan
sues of silver collector medals, plates,
B.
and
fiasco.
other collector art objects,
so
they didn't miss the opportunity to sell
specimens
of
the
casino
gaming
Anthony ("Carter Quarter") dollar
People who missed out on the huge
profits from hoarding silver coins and
silver dollars back in the mid-1960's,
1965) for a metal
Their
1978, when a Nevada law made the
casinos no longer liable to redeem
Product
Portland,
sample gaming tokens to the Nevada
gaming
Bay Club,
into token).
The Franklin Mint distributed these
proval (in April,
Crystal
illogically decided they could make a
were
bundle by hoarding Ike dollars. As the
made by the Franklin Mint, a large
circulation strike Ikes have near nil in
Pennsylvania private mint; they made
trinsic
the great majority of the casino gam
future numismatic value above face,
it doesn't seem to be a wise invest
ing tokens (look for their small "f"
mintmark).
The Franklin
Mint issued sample
"Experimental Dollar Gaming Token"
pieces in white metal and bronze (see
illustration) to the casinos to test in
their slot machines. The center of the
experimental
Area";
here
token
reads "Image
the casino
could
have
their name, logo, or building pictured.
Surrounding this is the raised border
with incuse lettering, for the message:
One
dollar
Gaming
Token,
Redeemable By Player Only At (etc).
The tokens are 37mm
with
a
spots.
reeded
edge
"Gambling chips took
the place of silver
dollars on the gambling
tables but obviously
couldn't be used in the
slot machines.
Suddenly everyone
turned to metal tokens
to take the place of
silverdollars/9
in diameter,
with
smooth
value
and
no
foreseeable
ment. But this didn't stop people from
accumulating them as fast as possible
with greedy passion, and they disap
peared from circulation. The casinos
had a bigger problem this time, for
the popularity of dollar slot machines
had
grown
immensely
in
the
proceeding few years. New dollar slot
machines in carousel arrangements
popped up in all casinos and were do
ing fantastic business. Now that the
Ikes were nearly all gone, there were
two immediate possibilities - convert
the machines to use the new small
1979 Suzies, or get permission to
out of storage and use the
Most of the casino gaming
bring
tokens are of this style, and have the
old 1960's tokens. The machine con
small f mintmark and date in tiny
versions were costly, and where done
numerals.
proved
of
the
1960s
gaming
tokens.
The
unpopular
among
patrons,
who preferred the loud clunk and big
Several other mints produced some
tokens
to
its
collector-investor
size of the Ikes or tokens.
Osborne Coinage Co. of Cincinnati
clientele. Special proof and proof-like
struck
specimens were struck for sale to col
put back in use, as it didn't take long
tokens, including the 1965 half dollar
lectors only (proofs are special quality
for
token of (Marshal and Franklin Fey's)
strikes with a mirror-like finish). Silver
tokens. These new tokens are similar
Liberty Belle Saloon of Reno. In Oc
tober of 1965 the Gaming Control
strikes of the gaming tokens were
in style to their predecessors, and are
also made for collectors. And many
dated 1979 and 1980. A great profu
Board ordered a stop to half dollar
casinos had five dollar gaming tokens
sion of them has been issued in the
tokens as
struck by the Franklin Mint in sterling
past 21/2 years. They are the tokens
silver (45mm), but these were primari
you'll now see and use when you visit
some dollar and
half dollar
regular half dollar coins
.com
m
ly for
sale to collectors.
:
lars became scarce and permission
u
se
from
for more 50$ tokens d
was
again mu By 1970 quite a series of Nevada
-
e
e
d
d
gaming tokens had been issued. But
granted.
nloa struck
arca dollar the number of new issues and
.
Wendell's o
of w Chicago w
D
w
tokens for Barney's,
://w Lake Tahoe; Bill reorders for tokens shrank drastically
p
t
t
h Carson City Nugget; as the new Eisenhower (silverless)
& Effie's, Verdi;
were available. But in 1966 half dol
and El Capitan, Hawthorne.
Michigan Tool and Engineering Co.,
San Jose, Calif., produced tokens for
May
© The 1981
International
Arcade Museum
I'm not sure if any 1960's tokens were
approval
and
minting
of new
the Nevada casinos.
In addition to all the tokens men
tioned above, there is another large
series of tokens issued by the casinos
—
the
promotional
free
slot
play
Now there was a new government coin
tokens, and the premium tokens
given to players hitting jackpots on
the slot machines. I'll discuss these at
to use in the slot machines, and it cir
a later time.
dollar coin came into being in 1971.
THE COIN SLOT — 55
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