mold
number |
picture |
details |
| MD-86 |
 |
PLAIN MOLD -- the rim mold is plain/flat/not
embossed. c. 1890-present. As for casino and club chips, very few
of the plain rim chips were hot-stamped; virtually all had round litho
inlays like the one pictured here. They could be called "crest and
seal" chips.........The chip pictured at the left is for sale here as a
plain mold chip. It was used at the Traversi Hotel, Sacramento CA, which
opened 1916 and closed 1940. |
| MD-87 |
 |
SMALL KEY (SM-KEY) (a/k/a SMALL GREEK KEY)
-- greek key design, repeated 30 times. B. C. Wills & Co.,
Detroit MI and Reno NV, which made these chips from 1937-1965. (I
have Wills advertising chips on this mold, which exclaimed "Wills Gem Checks.")
......As Don Lueders pointed out, a small percent of these small key chips
are machined (chip has small grooves like on a phonograph record). Click
here to see one example. ............. Click
here to see a modern plastic version (manufacturer unknown) of the
Small Key mold......... In 1990 I received catalogs and samples from these
two small companies that offered small-key chips -- C-A Specialty Co.,
Phoenix AZ, and The Poker Store, Stanton CA. .............The
sample on the left is for sale. One side says "O'Connor." The reverse
side says "Trade Only." It is from a well known men's club that had
gambling, in the heart of downtown Portland OR. It was started in
1934 and closed in 1973. (The "Trade Only" inscription was to protect
the place in case of a police raid; the chips could be called mere "commercial
tokens.") |
| MD-88 |
 |
LARGE KEY (LG-KEY) (a/k/a LARGE GREEK KEY)
--greek key design, repeated 15 times. B. C. Wills & Co.,
Detroit MI and Reno NV, which made these chips from 1962 or '64-1980's.
At least one other place offered it recently. In 1990 The Poker Store,
Stanton CA, sent me samples...........The chip pictured is a Harrah's 1963
roulette chips. |
| MD-89 |
 |
ROMAN (a/k/a ROMAN BORDER, and WEAVE; "Roman"
or "Roman border" --not "weave"-- is preferred by Atlantic Molding, the
owner of the mold) -- 24 weave designs. 1950's?-present.
I have seen the mold in a H. Baron Co., NYC, 1958 catalog. There
they described it as their "Non-Duplicate Monogrammed Crap Check."
Eventually Bill Borland (World-Wide Casino Exchange, Las Vegas NV) used
the mold, but never for Nevada casinos. It was used by Penn
Specialty Co., The Poker Store, Stanton CA, and is used today by Atlantic
Standard Molding, Portland ME., which has owned it since about 1990. |
| MD-90 |
 |
ZIG ZAG -- 26 repetitions of the
zig zag design. 1944-1953. Noll and Co., Pasadena CA.........The
chip on the left is unattributed. Soap was put into the recessed
mold design for scanning purposes. |
| MD-91 |
 |
WEB MOLD -- 20 "diamonds." 1875-present(!).
Ace Sportworks, NYC. Most recently used exclusively by Marion and
Co, erstwhile of NYC and now in North Miami FL.........The "NEB" chip is
pictured on the left.. Soap was applied to the recessed embossed
mold for scanning purposes. I was told the chips were used in N.
Wang's Club in the Chinatown section of NYC about 1975. |
| MD-92 |
 |
CORD -- long rope with 18 ridges.
1940's?-1950's? E. M. O'Neil & Co., Chicago IL...............The
chiphere is unattributed. |
| MD-93 |
 |
SCROLL -- 10 "S's." Jay Myer Co.,
London, England; and A. B. P. Casino Supply (per Herz). Used
mostly out of the U.S.; new chips of this mold are used today (2001), in
the Dominican Republic, for example..............The chip for sale here
is coded FN HAR-5 in the "1998 Black's Catalog of Atlantic City Casino
Chips and Gaming Tokens." FN means "Fun Night," which is when these
"no cash value" chips were used -- for a day or two in 1980 by the
public for "practice" so the New Jersey officials could observe the casino
staff in operation and approve the official opening of the casino.
The chips offered here are in mint condition. |
| MD-94 |
 |
SMALL CIRCLES -- machined circles.
Hunt & Co., Chicago IL. This mold is, or is close to, Herz' mold
#13 (page 19) in his "A Collector's Guide to Nevada Gaming Checks &
Chips." |
| MD-95 |
 |
LARGE & SMALL CIRCLES -- machined circles.
Frank Walters Co., Detroit MI. This is Herz' mold #14 (see
MD-94, above). |
| MD-96 |
 |
ZIG ZAG AND CIRCLES. This is Bill Borland's
mold #57. I started collecting chips in earnest after buying Borland's
(1988)
"The Official Blue Book of Casino Chips and Gaming Tokens" (now out
of print). I set out collecting each different mold. Recently
I obtained this one.... ..I
now see that the same mold with the same name is in Herz' earlier (1985)
"Harvey's
Guide..." and the later (1995) "A
Collector's Guide...." , where it is his mold #15 (page 19)...... I
wouldn't really call it an embossed mold. It is more like a hot-stamp
design, but perhaps it sufficed as a proprietary design for the unknown
distributor, who may have used the zig zag rim on all his chips.
Note, too, the machined-like circles in the center of the chip. These
circles don't extend to the rim area. I thank Ralph Stranwold for
finding and selling me these chips. |
| MD-97 |
 |
MONARCH MOLD -- a/k/a RAISCIR (Raised
Circle) -- 2 embossed circles and a bulging surface between the circles
(sort of like an inner tube of a tire). c. 1900-1950?
G. H. Harris Co., Brooklyn NY. Many of these monarch mold chips were
made by Hunt & Co., and appear in "Howdy's
Guide to Hunt & Co." |
| MD-98 |
 |
$ MOLD -- 8 dollar signs. This
is a pretty solid injection molded chip. I received this chip in
1991. In 1996 The Poker Chip Co,. Torrance CA, had it in their catalog.
The chip is of a good weight and it makes a nice thud when it hits the
table, but it appears to be injection molded; each chip has the two tell-tale
small circles on one side......The mold is being used now (April 2002)
for a 50 cent hot-stamped chip at the Spa Tribal Casino, Palm Springs CA...
........On the chip at the left I applied a pencil for scanning purposes. |
| MD-99 |
 |
DOUBLE BROKEN CIRCLE -- 2 circles broken
8 times. c. 1976. H. C. Edwards and Co., NYC. (made for them
by Gamex, Las Vegas NV). Chips with this mold were made for a short
period of time because the design/quality was unsuccessful. For the
most part they are clay inlaid chips, except that under the inlay there
is a thin metal disc (for weight) and sandwiched between the clay obverse
and reverse sides is a thin plastic core!..............The chip pictured
is from the Americana, Aruba -- the green $25 one pictured, and a black
$100 one. |
| MD-100 |
 |
FLEUR DE' LIS -- 8 fleur de lis (the black
edge spots [inserts] "hide" some of them in this scan). Atlantic
Molding, Portland ME, the chip manufacturer, created this mold about
1990 and still owns it, as this is written (2001), though no chips of this
mold are currently be made. Two one-time distributors of this mold (I own
advertising chips on this mold of both firms), are Wico Gaming Supply (c.
1994-1996), and Gamblers General Store -- both in Las Vegas NV. |
| MD-101 |
 |
FEATHERS (or LEAFS) -- 36 pair of feathers
or leafs. 
Gene Trimble reported this to me and supplied the scan. He said it
is from the old Burt Co., Portland ME (1920's-1988)........Incidentally,
click
here to see a "six feathers" mold chip that was never used to
produce chips, other than samples. Made by Atlantic
Molding, Portland ME, successor to the Burt Co. |
| MD-102 |
 |
AZTEC PYRAMID (a/k/a-the "KP" mold) --
12 repetitions of an Indian-Aztec-pyramid design. c. 1995 to present.
This is the exclusive mold of K.
P. Gaming Supplies , 12121 Madera Way, Riverside CA 92503, an
American Indian owned and operated gambling supply business, headed by
Kevin P. Thornton, in exsistence 1993 - date. The chips are manufactured
in California and are used mostly in Indian casinos in that state; some
are sold elsewhere in the U.S. |
| MD-11 |
 |
HOUSE MOLD -- described
in the letters/words section --- click here. |
| MD-16 |
 |
WAVE CRESTS --
described in the letters/words section -- click here. |
| MD-17 |
 |
"C" MOLD -- described
in the letters/words section -- click here |
| MD-19 |
 |
"H" MOLD -- described
in the letters/words section -- chick here |
| MD-22 |
 |
LAZY "N" (a/k/a OIL CAN MOLD) -- described
in letters/words section -- click here |
| MD-25 |
 |
LAZY "S" -- described
in the letters/words section -- click here. |
| MD-53 |
 |
LAZY DIAMONDS -- described
in geometric (diamonds...) section -- click here. |
| MD-69 |
 |
DRAGONS -- described
in plant/animal section -- click here |
| MD-78 |
 |
SMALL CROWNS -- described
in the manmade objects section -- click here |
| MD-80 |
 |
HOUR GLASS --
described in the manmade objects section -- click here |
| MD-81 |
 |
HARPS -- described
in the manmade objects section -- click here |
