Flamingo Hotel Las Vegas Original 1946 $5 Poker Chip Bugsy Siegel Lansky Mafia
Looking for that next great memorabilia item for your collection? Well, this it! 1946 Flamingo $5 Poker Chip! This is an original poker chip from the opening of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. This type of chip is known as a "Bugsy Chip" as this was the only type of chip that was around while he still ran the iconic Las Vegas landmark hotel. The chip is a standard size orange clay chip with a wafer metal inlay in the middle on both sides that red 'THE FLAMINGO LAS VEGAS 5.00". The chip itself is in really nice condition and is bright orange in color. Many of these chips have holes punched into them which were done by the Flamingo cashier cage and dealers know the chip is discontinued and can no longer be used as currency in the casino. Every casino does this, but most of these chips you find out there have this "hole punch" if you would, as the hotel obviously had most of the population of these chips in circulation. Finding the ones that haven't been punched are the toughest to find like this one here and their value amongst poker chip collectors is significantly more sought after and valued because of this. In addition, most of the chips you see out there are nowhere near the great quality condition as this one and in this kind of shape.
The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946, and was run by Siegel and Meyer Lansky, both mafia figures in the Jewish Mob. Lansky of course ran the money for the Mafia and was assigned to Las Vegas to supervise Siegel and others to make sure the mob's interests were protected. When it had opened it was a massive failure as it was not completely finished and parts of it was still under construction. It was rushed because the Mafia had tied up a lot of money to building it with its minority owner Billy Wilkerson, and they didn't have any more time to wait to start getting their money back.
Anyway, this chip is from the original batch of chips from when it opened and Siegel was only around for 7 months or so after it opened as the mob began quite impatient on their investment and its profits that they held Bugsy accountable for its failure as well as him stealing money from the Mob. He was murdered on June 20, 1947 at his girlfriend, Virginia Hill's Beverly Hills home. The day after Siegel's murder, David Berman and his Las Vegas mob associates, Sedway and Gus Greenbaum, walked into the Flamingo and took over operation of the hotel and casino. Bugsy was not there long and it is unclear when the next set of poker chips were released after this one but it was rumored either just before he left or right after he died, so they were not around long at all.
If you are looking for original Las Vegas collectibles directly tied to Siegel or the Flamingo hotel in Las Vegas, it gets no better than this. Collectors don't sell these chips. They keep them in their collections as a corner stone of their collections and pass them down to their families as they are so rare and hard to find. We can't stress enough how difficult these chips are to come across.
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QUESTION: I want to purchase an item on your website but I don't currently have the funds to do so. Do you have any methods to assist me in being able to purchase the item(s)?
YES! Currently, Inscriptagraphs is the only major memorabilia retailer to offer customers a financing option! We offer our financing option through our finance partner Sezzle! If you qualify through them, you could potentially be able to purchase your item today and have it shipped out even faster! This is a great option for people than need extra time to pay off that one item they must have for their man cave or a gift for someone! Check out our financing section for more information!
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How do I know your items are authentic?
We work with the most reputable suppliers in the industry who have direct contracts with athletes & celebrities. Most items are acquired via private paid autograph signings with the athletes/celebrities to ensure the signatures are the real thing. We work with some of the most advanced authentication companies in the industry today including PSA/DNA, James Spence Authentication (JSA), Beckett, Upper Deck, Steiner, Tristar and much more (Click here to see our authenticity guarantee). All worn and game used equipment has paperwork directly from the teams, players, movie studios, estates, and celebertieis themselves! Indeed, acquiring your favorite piece of autographed memorabilia can be one of the most exciting investments you can make – as long as it is real. At Inscriptagraphs.com, the integrity of each piece of hand-signed collectibles is paramount. Inscriptagraphs.com guarantees the authenticity of your hand-signed sports collectible or your money back!
Quality
At Inscriptagraphs Sports & Entertainment Memorabilia, quality is one of the founding principles of our company. All of our products come from the absolute best of the best sources from cases to the actual collectibles to framing and authentication. Quality is what we stand for. The signed and unsigned collectibles that we offer are manufactured with the best materials and the framing we provide with our products are state of the art museum quality framing. The equipment we use, the average mom & pop shop and large retail competitors can't afford as the machinery we use is the utmost high end in the framing industry. This equipment is very very expensive to purchase & maintain but we are committed to giving our customers the quality they seek and rarely find. The cases we provide are all made of plexiglass which is more expensive than glass and if your case fell off your desk, for example, the plexiglass won't shatter like normal glass.
There's an old expression: "You Get What You Pay For", we make sure you are provided with the industry-leading quality and are proud to set the bar for quality among memorabilia companies. The authenticity you are provided with for your collectibles is the most advanced expert authentication in the industry. We outsource all of our authentication (except for witnessed signings we directly conduct with athletes & celebrities) to ensure that a third party expert authentication service providing you with their opinion and not us, giving you a bias opinion. You have come to the right place if you are in the market for memorabilia collectibles as you will be provided the utmost quality for your collection!
Questions?
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Sell My Memorabilia to Inscriptagraphs
Does Inscriptagraphs buy the general public's memorabilia?
Yes! We purchase all sorts of sports & entertainment memorabilia. From athlete & movie star autographs, game used items and movie posters to movie props, celebrity owned items and even historical rare documents from a famous inventor or US President!! You can check out our SELL MY MEMORABILIA page for information on what we look for! If you are not sure if we would be interested in your item or not, then just simply ask!! Give us a call at (844) 474-4633 us at sales@inscriptagraphs.com.