mold
number |
picture |
details |
| MD-75 |
 |
HAT (NO CANE) -- 8 top hats. You can
see the injection mold circle inside the top hat in the picture to the
left. Not used for casino chips, for sure. I put the entry
here in case anyone would ever mistake these for MD-76 and MD-77 just below. |
| MD-76 |
 |
HAT AND CANE, SHORT CANE VERSION (H&C- SCV) --
Top hat with cane, repeated 8 times (also see MD-76a, 76b and 77, below).
1965-present. Paul-son Gaming Supplies, Las Vegas NV. By far,
the Paul-son hat and canes are the most used chip mold in Nevada and the
world. On this page I show three major varieties of the Paulson hat
& cane rim mold. In MD-76, the cane is relatively short
(about 7.5 mm long) and the triangular area
formed by the bottom of the cane and the left side of the hat and brim
is rather small; also the bottom of the cane appears to end lower than
the brim line. (The blue chip shown here is from the California Hotel,
Las Vegas NV.)...... I recommend
you visit Greg Susong's fine page about these variations and other interesting
chip information. ........I scanned the orange chip on the left because
its soiled nature highlights the embossed hat and cane design. It
is, of course, a roulette chip from the famous Nevada casino. |
| MD-76a |
 |
HAT AND CANE, LONG CANE VERSION (H&C-LCV)
-- Top hat and cane repeated 8 times. 1964 - present (?).
Paul-son Gaming Supplies, Las Vegas NV. This is the second variant
of the H&C mold, called LCV (long cane version). Compared
to MD-76 above, this one has a long cane (about 9 mm long), and there is
a comparatively large area  between
the bottom of the cane and the left side of the hat and brim (see the arrows
in MD-76 and MD-76a). Additionally, the lower end of the cane does
not seem to go below the hat brim line. It is my suspicion that many
individual chip runs were done using both molds (76 and 76a)............I
scanned a particularly soiled chip to highlight the mold design. |
| MD-76b |
 |
HAT AND CANE (ALTERNATING DIRECTIONS) --
top hat and cane repeated 8 times, except every 4th one has the cane reversed.  That
is, two pair (which happen to be the top and bottom pair on the chip to
the left, which was scored with pencil to highlight the mold) have their
cane handles facing each other. Another major difference, among others,
is that there is no outer ring (between the embossed hats/canes and the
edge of the chip) as there is with MD-76 and MD-76a, above. Click
here for bigger picture. ......This new rim mold design was probably
done to accommodate Paul-son's new wide
graphic and full graphic inlaid chips, which Paul-son began making
in 1993. Nowadays, most new Paul-son chips, especially the commemorative/limited
edition ones, seem to have this rim mold. |
| MD-76c |
 |
HAT AND CANE (INVERTED) -- 8 repetitions
of inverted hat and cane, that is, the brim of the hat faces the edge of
the chip; in all the other molds here, the brim faces the inner circle.
Made about 1990 to present by Paul-son Gaming Supplies, Las Vegas NV.
The chip on the left is actually 1-3/4" wide, and these inverted H&C
chips are only used on such large baccarat-style chips...............
Thanks to Don Lueders, who supplied the chip. |
| MD-77 |
 |
HAT AND CANE (H&C CJ) -- top
hat and cane, repeated 8 times. 1955-1965. Christy & Jones Co.,
Las Vegas NV. This H&C mold is very similar to the one above,
MD-76. One difference is that the Paul-son H&C (for quite a while)
was about 7 mm long while the CJ (Christy & Jones) H&C is about
9 mm long; the CJ ones have slightly taller hats, too. Unlike the
Paul-son one, the CJ one usually has a shiny inside to the hat and a metal
pellet inside the chip (X-ray it or take it apart)......Edge spots are
another way to distinguish CJ chips from Paulson ones. The CJ edge
spots have neat, smooth borders; the Paulson ones (but not the modern full
and wide graphic ones -- see MD-76b, above) tend to be sloppy/uneven.
The Paulson ones have convex ends, while the CJ ones are either straight,
or --if the edge spots are a half inch or wider-- concave. Click
here to see a longer, pictorial explanation of the edge
spot differences .......The "21 Club" chip pictured is unattributed. |
| MD-78 |
 |
SMALL CROWN (SCROWN)-- a small crown and a small
dash, repeated 12 times. 1950-present (1950-1978 in Nevada).
T. R. King Co., Los Angeles CA. Both the small and large crown
chips are used mostly in California..........The chip pictured here is
supposedly from England. Prince Charles, the heir to the British
throne, is known as the Prince of Wales, a title used by a long line of
Royals. I'm not suggesting anyone important owned these chips, just
that the "Prince of Wales" crest is the design on the chips, and it is
a popular, well-known design in both Britain and the U.S. |
| MD-79 |
 |
LARGE CROWN (LCROWN) -- a large crown and a
large dash, repeated 4 times. 1938-1967. T. R. King Co., Los
Angeles CA. |
| MD-80 |
 |
HOUR GLASS (HRGLASS) -- 30 hourglasses.
1940's-1950's? Rigdon & Co., Cincinnati OH. The mold was
used mainly for illegal clubs in that part of the country -- Kentucky,
Ohio, etc...........The chip pictured is unattributed. It is "fortunately"
soiled, so you can easily see the recessed horglasses. |
| MD-80a |
 |
NEW HOURGLASS -- new hourglass mold
from Atlantic Molding to replace the old hourglass mold.. Same 30
hourglasses, but only one ring. Used about 1980 to early 1990's.
The mold was made for Doubling Cube Co., NYC, about 1980. Later the
mold was sold, I believe to Duro Sales, Inc., Deer Park NY. I have
seen the mold chips in a 1990 brochure of Duro Sales. It is doubtful
that the chips were used in casinos. I don't know who owns the mold
now or whether it is being used today. |
| MD-81 |
 |
HARP -- 24 harp designs. 1930's-1950's?
Taylor & Co., Chicago IL. Chips of this mold have been used for
a lot of illegal clubs in middle America............This chip is pictured
on the left has been finally identified by going to the old Taylor Company
records -- it is from the 39 Club, 802 E. 39 St., Chicago ILL, March 26,
1941. |
| MD-82 |
 |
HORSESHOES -- 16 horseshoes, alternately
pointing in and out. 1952-present. T. K. Specialty Co., Reno
NV. |
| MD-83 |
 |
CANDELABRA -- 12 candelabras. Used
in Europe. Stakis Casinos are in England and Scotland........Soap
was applied to the embossed candelabras to highlight them for scanning
purposes. |
