Caesars Palace releases George Burns chips

[Alan Mendelson]

Caesars Palace in Las Vegas has just released a stash of commemorative casino chips that were held in its vault for more than 20 years. The chips were going to be released for George Burns birthday celebration at Caesars on January 20, 1996. But the celebration was called off when he became ill and he died on March 9, 1996. The chips did not circulate in the casino until a few days ago. I was lucky and got two from a friend who is a dealer at Caesars. They're brand new, clean with crisp features. If you go to Caesars you might find some -- if collectors haven't already grabbed them. Usually todays collectible chips are limited to 1,000 but I don't know what the production runs were 21 years ago. These chips are not numbered.

[dannyj]

Cool chips Alan. So, did you make it up to Vegas for the eclipse?

[Alan Mendelson]

Yes I did get to Vegas. It was raining and overcast. More importantly the slot machines didn't deliver jackpots because of the Eclipse.

[FABismonte]

Hi Alan:

Did anyone tell you why CP released the George Burns chips at this time?

[pkspins]

I have never collected chips but that is one that would be neat to have.

[quahaug]

Why not release them? People will pay the five bucks and they'll never will be cashed in. Pure profit.

[Alan Mendelson]

Absolutely it's pure profit when people take these home.

I don't know the full story. Some chip collectors are telling me that some of these chips were released in 1996 and were gobbled up. I never saw them in play and didn't know they existed till now.

My guess is they found them in the vault and decided to use them instead of the expense of ordering new chips.

I'm not a chip collector either.

[Alan Mendelson]

I did a Google search and found several articles and websites about casino chips. Yes these were sold at the cage (casino cashier) at one time but when the birthday concert was canceled they stopped. Yes 10,000 were made but I'm not sure how many might have been released or destoyed? I saw a price chart tracking eBay sales and during August these sold for as much as $40-50. Now I see them on various websites for $7.99 to $24 depending on "shipping cost."

[Biloxi Bill]

Absolutely it's pure profit when people take these home.

I don't know the full story. Some chip collectors are telling me that some of these chips were released in 1996 and were gobbled up. I never saw them in play and didn't know they existed till now.

My guess is they found them in the vault and decided to use them instead of the expense of ordering new chips.

I'm not a chip collector either.

That is correct, your buddy Rob said you are a chip giver...remember when he said you`re a gambling addict?

[Alan Mendelson]

I'm surprised Caesars would release these chips from their vault for an event that never happened. But what's collectible? Things like newspapers with headlines that say DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.

[Alan Mendelson]

Oops... just found an article published on the web in 2002 that priced these chips at $55 each. See: https://sites.google.com/site/blevez/cashinginonchips Now I understand why some chip collectors might be upset about the new release of chips.