Showboat Chip Sells for $29,988.88 on eBay!

Sandy Marbs of Florisant, Missouri recently picked up $29,988.88 by selling a $1 poker chip on eBay! The chip was from the now defunct Showboat Casino in Las Vegas (in operation from 1954 until 2001), and it’s believed to be one of only two such chips in the world.

BURIED TREASURE

Sandy, who is recently retired and living on social security, stared selling items on eBay this year in the $5 to $30 range. She hadn’t made a trip to Las Vegas in eight years, so she decided to sell some chips she had left over from that trip. She had a few other chips sitting around, and the Showboat chip had been tucked away inside a jewelry box for the past 47 years.

She said, “Why not,” and posted the auction with a starting price of $2.25. The chip was valued at $15,000, and the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club stepped in to help her get the appropriate value. She was offered anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 to end the auction early, but Sandy politely declined and hoped for the best. When the dust had settled, the winning bid was $28,988.88!

THE LUCKY WINNER

The winner of the auction was Glenn Grush. According to Glenn, “I will only say it will be a great addition to my collection.” Glenn’s obviously a man of few words.

Wayne Thompson, President of the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club also chimed in. “It’s always exciting to see a record broken on rare chips. While this is the highest price paid for a $1 chip, we have seen at least one Sahara $100 chip bring $100,000 cash.”

Prior to Sandy’s record -breaking sale, the highest a $1 chip went for on eBay was $7,212 in 2005. That was for an El Cortez poker chip.

If you happen to come across some old chips in your attic; remember this story. You could be throwing away a small fortune and not even know it.

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Showboat Chip Sells for $29,988.88 on eBay!