Casino collectibles, chips on display at LV convention

Eric Feigenbaum

Friday, June 18, 1999 | 11:23 a.m.

Some gaming chips and tokens are more valuable when you don't cash them in.

That was evident Thursday when some 2,000 members of the Casino Chips and Gaming Tokens Collectors Club, their guests and members of the public gathered at the Orleans hotel-casino to trade, buy, sell and view casino chips, tokens and collectibles.

The club's annual three-day conference boasts 92 trading tables and nine rare chip and token displays.

Scott Hartman, "The Chip Man," has one of the largest collections on display. The semi-retired property manager from Agoura Hills, Calif., has 100,000 gaming chips, of which he trades 5,800. He has both a print and on-line catalog for collectors to browse, turning his collecting and trading into a second business.

Hartman said he began collecting during a blackjack tournament about 10 years ago. An acquaintance noticed Hartman sometimes saved gaming chips instead of cashing them in and suggested he organize and develop the collection. Now, he has everything from the very common to the very rare with prices ranging from $5 for a $1 chip to $275 for a $5 chip.

Eric Rosenblum, an attorney from Levittown, N.Y., also trades segments of his collection, which he's been building for 20 years. He said he began picking them up as souvenirs from his frequent trips to Nevada and later found others who also collected.

Rosenblum also sells kazoos and hangers from now closed hotels, which he said is more profitable than trading chips. Hangers from the shut down El Rancho hotel-casino sell for $5. Rosenblum picked them up at a flea market for $2 and he had already sold 20 by Thursday afternoon.

"Casino collectibles are growing exponentially," Rosenblum said. "It really does tell the history of the city."

Other collectibles at the event include hotel ashtrays, posters, glasses, mugs and reward cards.

Rosenblum said he spends his Augusts traveling throughout Nevada searching for rare chips, tokens and other hotel-casino collectibles.

Gene Greenblatt of Calabasas, Calif., has one of the convention's most expensive sales tables. One $5 chip from the now-demolished Sands hotel-casino sells for $175 and another $5 chip from the former Goldrush casino goes for $850.

The convention continues through Saturday. Admission is free to collector club members and is $2 for the public.