♠ The Tropicana $1 Chips ♠

If you listened to a recent radio show, Todd spoke about being at the Tropicana in Las Vegas during its final night in operation. He reported that so many patrons wanted a $1 chip as a souvenir that table games were instructed not to sell them for fear that they might sell out. (Apparently the same saw said for $5 chips.) As a casino chip collector I had heard similar reports.

I thought forum readers might want to learn a bit more about the $1 Tropicana chips before being tempted to either sell theirs or purchase one on secondary markets, like eBay, where some are selling for $20 to $40 each.

The Tropicana has a storied history, and as such have seen their $1 chips evolve over their decades in operation since opening on April 3rd of 1957. I have all of these chips in my collection. Below are pictures of each with a short description.

This is the first style of $1 chip used at the Tropicana in the late 1950’s. It’s what’s known as a “small crown” mold because the impressions around the ring of the chip look like tiny crowns with dashes between them. (Yes, there is a “large crown” mold with unmistakable ornate crowns, but the Trop never used this mold.) The two large navy blue pieces around the edge of the chip are commonly referred to as the “insert”, or sometimes called “edge spots”. This pattern of having 2 large inserts is known as the “quarter pie” pattern because each section takes up 1/4 of the chip. The graphics on the inlay of the chip feature the Tropicana’s famous fountain. This type of chip is very durable and lasted many years.

It wasn’t until 1972 that the Tropicana introduced the well known Paulson brand clay chip. This powder blue chip had a custom logo mold, depicting the name of the casino as well as the fountain, had no inserts, and used a smaller graphic on the inlay – again featuring their fountain. Lower denomination chips, like a $1 chip, tend to be less ornate than higher denomination chips. Adding colored inserts increases the cost of the chip, but also makes it more difficult to counterfeit. This is why $1 chips sometimes have no inserts, but $100 chips have multiple inserts of varying colors.

In the 1980’s the Tropicana decided to issue a less expensive $1 chip for their poker room. Poker room chips, especially the most common denomination, get significantly more wear and tear in the poker room than they do at tables in the pits. In an effort to extend the life of their powder blue Paulson chips, they purchased these much less expensive purple chips. This chip uses the standard Paulson “hat and cane” mold, has no inserts, and the inlay is a simply “hot stamp” which is produced using gold colored foil and a press. This saves the cost of adhering colored inlays to each side of the chip. While this gold hot stamp will eventually wear away, poker players can still identify a purple chip as a $1 denomination.

In 1985 the Tropicana began targeting middle-class clientele and began construction of a second tower to be operated by Ramada. Their $1 chip evolved to depict both the new tower and Ramada’s involvement.

In 1990 the words “Las Vegas, NV” was added to the chip as Nevada Gaming now required the city and state to be included on all gaming cheques.

By 1992, their $1 chip displayed their new logo on the inlay and the fountain was removed from the mold, replaced by the denomination. These lackluster off-white chips were used for almost 20 years. During these decades the Tropicana also lost its luster and went into decline.

It wasn’t until 2010, after having endured a failed expansion prior to the recession and emerging from bankruptcy, that a $180M remodeling was completed – the first in 25 years. The old Tropicana took on a “South Beach” theme. Keeping in line with the new look, this $1 chip was released. This Paulson clay chip had an updated “Tropicana Las Vegas, Nevada” mold, an almond colored base with a purple and fuchsia insert, and a clean redesigned logo on a large inlay.

Two years later the Tropicana added this chip to the mix. It is identical to the previous chip, but uses a less expensive “sun” mold. Since it has the same colors and insert pattern, these chips look the same to dealers when bet or in stacks/racks, so old and new chips can be in play simultaneously.

In 2013 the Tropicana added another style, probably because they needed more to augment their stocks. Chips do wear out or crack and are removed from play. Patrons also take them home as souvenirs, and the addition of table games may necessitate having more chips in stock. Whatever the reason, the Tropicana added these new Paulson chips. The colors and artwork remained similar, but on the small inlay Paulson chip with a custom mold. This small inlay Paulson chip was popular at the time and several Strip properties followed suit.

A year later, in an effort to look “new”, they rebranded themselves as “The New Tropicana”. This new chip was issued with the words “The New” being the only addition.

Finally, in 2023, the Tropicana, along with several other Strip properties, introduced a less expensive hot gold stamp $1 chip. This was the last $1 chip in play at the casino, but since it was the same color as the previous four chips, you could find all five in play at the same time on the day of their closing on April 2nd, 2024.