The casino, which was once owned by reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, was razed in 1996 to make way for the Venetian. The piece fetched the highest price of some 60 chips at Heritage’s first sale of casino chips.Īntique Trader magazine noted in a preview of the sale, “This ‘hourglass’ chip features one of the best-known vintage Vegas logos it was used in advertising and promotion throughout the 1950s and was a very appropriate emblem back when Vegas was a Western-themed town.” In 2010, a Very Slightly Used (chip collectors have their own grading system) chip sold for $26,290 at auction. Heritage Auctions reports that casinos often made key chains for tourists out of withdrawn chips. In the center of both sides was a white disk showing the Casino’s trademark cowgirl leaning on an hourglass, four stars, two diamonds, the words THE SANDS / LAS VEGAS NEVADA and the denomination.Ĭollectors know of three undamaged pieces and one that was holed, apparently by the casino. It was blue with three mustard-colored inserts at the edges. One of the rarer Sands chips is a $5 ninth-issue piece that was used in the late 1950s. The most expensive chip, a $100 Sands token, fetched $145,000 several years ago. Sands chips, because of their history, coolness and rarity, top the price guides. Casino chip collecting is one of the hottest spots in exonumia, with prize disks fetching outsize prices.
