Buy the book before you buy the chip

Archie Black, a longtime collector and founding member of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club has a bit of advice for any new collector that bears repeating:

"Buy the book before you buy the chip."

If you've been collecting casino chips for any length of time and you don't already have a copy of The Official U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide, you owe it to yourself to check it out. Authored by James Campiglia and Steve Wells, the 3rd Edition was published in 2004 and contains 416 pages with over 2,000 full-color photos of chips from Nevada, Colorado, Deadwood, SD, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Atlantic City, NJ.

According to the authors, the book's scope includes "all legal, full-service American casino areas with legitimate gaming commissions." The authors also point out that the purpose of the book is to catalog the "real, regular issue chips actually used on the tables". Space did not allow the inclusion of a section on Nevada limited editions in the 3rd Edition, as was included in the earlier 2nd Edition. But, all limited edition Hard Rock Hotel chips are included in this volume.

Some collectors may be disappointed at what's not included, especially since the chips covered are presented so well. But, as with any reference book, the authors had to define a stopping point or the project of compiling the information, and keeping it current until publication date, would never end.

The 3rd Edition of the Guide uses the official chip grading system of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club, which is described in the book. And, of course the prices have been updated from those listed in the 2nd Edition.

In addition to photos and listings of chips by casino and their values, the introduction to the book also includes some basic information on chip collecting and care for those just starting out. There are also listings of mold and inlay types with descriptions to help identify them.

But, the real fun of the book starts on page 27 where the first pictures of chips appear. This book has some of the tastiest eye-candy a chip collector could ever hope for. The chips illustrated aren't just the typical, common checks that seasoned collectors have seen hundreds of times. There are rarely seen chips that most will only see in the pages of this book or in exclusive auction catalogs.

It would be fair to say that the bulk of chips shown and described in the pages of the 3rd Edition are from Nevada, although the areas I mentioned earlier are also covered. The Nevada coverage is what makes this book (along with The Chip Rack by Knapp, Myers and Wheelden) a must-have for the Nevada collector. There are 144 pages (with pictures of 860 chips) from Las Vegas alone. Another 154 pages (and 924 pictures of chips) covers the remainder of Nevada, including Lake Tahoe, Reno and other small Nevada towns.

There are 10 pages of Colorado chips; 8 pages on Deadwood, SD; 2 pages on Illinois; 4 pages on Indiana; 5 pages on Iowa; 5 pages on Louisiana; 17 pages on Mississippi and 9 pages on Atlantic City, NJ. Each page contains 6 pictures of individual chips (so you do the math for your favorite area).

In addition to the chips shown, there are photographs and postcard images of casinos scattered throughout the book, making it one of those books where you always seem to notice something new each time you pick it up.

In my opinion, a chip collector can never have too many reference books, and when you can find one that's so much fun to page through. So, take some words of advice I borrowed from one who knows, and buy the book before you buy the chip.