Beautiful and rare art deco, brass and enamel, Sarcophagus shaped poker chip holder.

Beautiful and rare art deco, brass and enamel,  Sarcophagus shaped poker chip holder. Finely crafted brass tube with enameled playing card motifs on the ends and Coat of arms of Hamburg.

Germany, Hamburg 1930s

Size 9 x 5 x 4.5 cm

Casino tokens (also known as casino or gaming chips, checks, or cheques) are small discs used in lieu of currency in casinos. Colored metal, injection-molded plastic or compression molded clay tokens of various denominations are used primarily in table games, as opposed to metal token coins, used primarily in slot machines. Casino tokens are also widely used as play money in casual or tournament games.

Several companies between the 1880s and the late 1930s made clay composition poker chips. There were over 1000 designs from which to choose. Most chips were white, red, blue, and yellow, but they could be made in almost any color desired.