Las Vegas: Where the Chips are Down

May 2006 - This year when thousands of eBay buyers and sellers gather in Las Vegas for the fifth annual eBay Live! conference, eBay will offer each enthusiast a commemorative eBay Live! pin featuring casino chip designs. You can bet that's one collector's item that Harvey Levin, a resident of Fort Lee, N.J. will add to his stack. For approximately 35 years, Harvey has been a diligent collector of casino chips from around the globe.

While vacationing in Las Vegas with his wife and two sons, Harvey noticed the varieties of each chip and token that casinos used. In recent years, casinos across the globe have begun producing chips to celebrate particular holidays, sporting events, hotel openings, and entertainers. Because each chip has its own original design, some individuals call them "miniature works of art." Harvey realized what a great keepsake the chips were, and instantly, a collector was born.

Among Harvey's favorite pieces are several chips from the original hotels and casinos within Atlantic City. These include chips from The Playboy, Atlantis, and Boardwalk Regency. Remarkably, Harvey was even able to obtain the original Hilton Casino chips in Atlantic City. The Hilton Casino was unable to open, due to state licensing problems, and instead, opened under Donald Trump's name. Because the Hilton Chips had already been ordered, these chips were used in the casino during its first few weeks of operation.

Finding casino chips and tokens is a difficult task, and much of Harvey's collecting has been limited due to lack of quality chips. In recent years, generic and commercial chips have begun to dominate the market. eBay has been excellent resource for Harvey in his pursuit for approximately 7 years now - ever since Harvey first used the internet. Harvey says, "eBay has revolutionized the buying habits of millions of people around the world, as well as creating hundreds of thousands of new entrepreneurs operating their own online eBay businesses. I think the future of eBay is unlimited!"

Harvey also obtains many chips by personally visiting casinos while he and his family are on vacation. In fact, Harvey explains, "Most of my chips I have personally obtained. We live approximately 125 miles from Atlantic City - just far enough to avoid sudden impulse trips, but not too far to go on a "day" trip."

While Harvey's collection includes approximately 700 chips, it certainly doesn't require much space! Casino chips are approximately 1-1/2" in diameter and 1/8" thick. About 125 of Harvey's chips commemorate rare, special events and are therefore placed in two custom-made display cases that hang on his office wall. However, most of Harvey's chips are kept in partitioned plastic boxes or tubes.

Chip collectors around the world are able to customize their collections, according to Harvey, because they can choose the origin and type of each chip in their collections. For instance, some collections may feature only chips from casinos on Indian Reservations, or from countries outside the United States, or from a particular city within the United States. There is not one special chip that Harvey is seeking. However, his collection is continually growing and now is valued at more than $2,500.00. Chip collecting is fun and affordable! Harvey finds enjoyment and pleasure in his search, and is always amazed at the plethora of chips that are circulating around the world.