Vintage Casino Chip Token - Old Vegas Strip.

Vintage Casino Chip Token - Old Vegas Strip.

3 x 25$ Mardi Gras Fleur De Lis - 1930s

4 x 5$   Thunderbird Hotel and Casino - 1973

3 x 1$    MGM Grand - 1979

2 x 5$   Sahara Tahoe - 1980

2 x 1$    Bellagio - 2010

Casino chips are one of the essentials in all casinos. Every single casino, both online and land-based, makes use of the casino chips. Since casino chips’ introduction in the 19th century, they became instantly popular among gamblers and collectors worldwide.

The first gambling houses that were predecessors to today’s casinos started to open up in the 17th century in Italy. Venice is the birthplace of the initial gambling rooms, where “Il Ridotto” (“The Private Room”) was the first established gambling house. 

Il Ridotto was part of the Palazzo Dandalo in Venice, located close to the church of San Moise. Il Ridotto started offering games in 1638, becoming the only government-owned gambling hall and the first legal casino. However, the chips were not used back then, with people using other things they could trade for money. 

Casinos started to pop up more frequently in Europe during the 19th century, and the USA also had many informal gambling spots during that period. Steamboats on the Mississippi River were the main gambling venues for the US gamblers, and today we all know that Las Vegas is the gambling mecca of America.