A $1 chip from the now closed Showboat Casino sold for $28,988.88 at an auction on eBay.

This chip is one of the only two known surviving chips of its kind. It was expected to go for about $15,000. But when the bidding began at $2.25 no one anticipated that it would go for almost double the expected price.

Sandy Marbs of Florisant was the owner of that chip. She is a retiree living on social security. In order to make ends meet she has been selling stuff on eBay since January 2008. Sandy had last gone to Las Vegas 8 years ago and had a few chips lying in her jewelry box. She put up the $1 chip on eBay. Members of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club, Inc. advised Sandy not to accept the early offers of around $5,000, but to wait for a higher price. The rest as they say is history. The buyer was Glenn Grush, a collector of casino chips. Grush said on his purchase, “I will only say it will be a great addition to my collection”.

Grush’s elation is not without cause. The Showboat Casino of Las Vegas is steeped in history. It was the first gambling venture of Showboat Inc. established in 1954 as a casino, hotel, and bowling center. It was located on 26 acres of prime area less than three miles from the Vegas Strip areas. For 40 years the Las Vegas Showboat catered to the local and family gaming customer. In 1995 the Showboat underwent a major renovation and expansion to include a casino space, a 450-room hotel tower, a race and sports book, a bingo parlor, a recreational vehicle park and a 106-lane bowling facility. The bowling center was the largest in North America and the second largest in the world. From 2000 the Showboat Casino of Las Vegas changed hands several times and was finally demolished in 2005. There are few relics of the Showboat Casino with ex-customers and these are gaining value as collector’s items.

Collecting casino memorabilia is nothing new. There is a full-fledged club involved, the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club, Inc. This sale is the record for a $1 chip, the previous best being $7,212 for an El Cortez chip in 2005. A Last Frontier Casino $5 chip, sold in 2005 for $39,345 is the highest ever fetched for a $5 chip. A $25 chip from the Sahara, which depicts a left-facing camel was sold for $67,000, the highest price for this denomination. It is ironic that the original buyer bought it in a large lot at $1 per chip.

The record for a $100 chip is $100,000 for a Sahara chip.

There are other Showboat Casino chips presently on offer at eBay. One is the 40th anniversary $5 chip. Another $5 chip is from 1996 with the marking “Happy New Year”. The bids for both close this week. And everyone who has been to the Showboat Casino at Las Vegas will be searching their attics to see if they can locate some trinket from the casino.