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allodial
11-11-13, 08:37 AM
Article (http://www.cardschat.com/history-poker-chips.php) on website suggests casino chips to be more counterfeit resistant than American currency.

The Truth About Counterfeiting Casino Chips
The history of poker chips involves a lot of counterfeiting. So if you’ve never wondered whether modern-day casino chips can be forged, you’re probably lying. It’s a fair question - and a common one. On the surface, poker chips and casino tokens look pretty simple. It’s a circular disc with a nice design on it. Figure out what the design is, replicate the disc, and you’re good to go, right?

Wrong. Casino chips are actually harder to forge than American currency. Casino owners know the history of poker chips and all the forgery that goes along with that history. The casino industry knows that there’s a huge market for their in-house currency, so they’ve taken all sorts of security measures (http://securechips.com/) to make sure that the chips can’t be forged. And if they can be forged, it’s easy for a cashier to spot a fake.

Each casino chip is designed to have a certain weight, texture, and feel. If you can replicate that, you still need to deal with things like microchips (many casinos embed their chips with them), serial numbers (yup, some casinos imprint their chips with individual numbers), and tons of other stuff that you have probably never thought of.
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What Are Casino Chips Made From?
If you’ve got friends who are into holding home poker games with authentic poker chips, you’ve probably heard them boast about how they only want clay casino chips because they’re the most authentic. They’ll talk about how they feel realistic - and they’ll brag about how their casino tokens are identical to what the real deal uses.

After all, casinos only use clay poker chips, right? Actually, you'd be wrong. Poker tokens aren’t 100% clay - even the ones you find in the big casinos. They’re actually made from a composite that includes clay, but is much more durable than clay alone.

In addition to clay composite chips, you’ll also find ceramic chips at some Las Vegas casinos. Ceramic casino tokens are also popular for home poker games.
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According to beautifulhustle.com (http://www.beautifulhustle.com/casino-poker-chip-specifications/):


The range of security features for casino grade poker chips is simply amazing. New security features are always in development. However, some existing features are UV Pigment, Laser Lock Material, customized rim, Chipsoft, UV Ink, and Alpha Dot. UV Pigment is typically used in the edge spots and causes them to appear fluorescent under a UV light. Laser Lock Material is a patented product that is generally mixed with inks, and then the materials can be revealed as green by a special laser pen. Customized rims are created by making a custom chip mold for the casino. Chipsoft is a trademarked name of a technology that embeds RFID’s in value chips. This allows poker chip management to become a science with the proper software. UV ink is typically used on the inlays to create a logo that is invisible, except under a UV light. Alpha Dot is a very unique technology involving a microscopic dot which is embedded into the inlay on the poker chip. The tiny dot will have text written on it that can be viewed by a very special lens.

Weights for casino chips often vary between 8.3 grams and 12.3 grams. Some will even include metal inserts like many poker chips created for the home market. Some large chip manufacturers offer a variety of simpler roulette style chips and even solid color hot stamped chips. The solid color chips are generally used for the lower values in the casino.

With casino chips security variations can be with respect to: Color, Graphics, Special Inks, Size, Shape, Markings, Weight, UV , Infrared Inks, RFID / Near Field Communications, Serial Numbers. With U.S. currency very few things are verifiable in real time. However, variations such as weight for coins, serial number for currency, unique inks, embedded strips (RFID some say) are available but hardly verifiable for the most part "in the wild".

Related: Chips no longer as good as cash (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2007/mar/09/chips-no-longer-good-cash/).

P.S. Is it not ironic that the easiest bill to counterfeit in the USA is the $100 bill (the largest bill in general circulation)?

Related: http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Casino_20Chip_20Currency

Chex
11-13-13, 03:36 PM
Your Casino Chips vs American Currency post is very interesting allodial.

Thinking about what happened in the past.

April 22, 2005

Oil, gold and commodities have all been priced in US dollars since 1975 when OPEC officially agreed to sell its oil exclusively for US dollars. From 1944 until 1971, US dollars were convertible into gold by central banks in order to adjust for any trade imbalances between countries. Up to that point, the price of gold was fixed at US$35 per ounce, and the price of oil was relatively stable at about US$3.00 per barrel. Once the US ceased gold convertibility in 1971, OPEC producers were forced to convert their excess US dollars by purchasing gold in the marketplace. This resulted in price increases for both oil and gold, until eventually oil reached US$40 per barrel and gold reached US$850 per ounce.


The US has enjoyed inexpensive oil-based energy for nearly a century, and this is one of the prime factors behind the unprecedented prosperity of its economy in the 20th century. While the US accounts for only 5 percent of the world's population, it consumes 25 percent of the world's fossil fuel-based energy. It imports about 75 percent of its oil, but owns only 2 percent of world reserves. Because of this dependency on both oil and foreign suppliers, any increases in price or supply disruptions will negatively impact the US economy to a greater degree than any other nation. http://www.gold-eagle.com/article/gold-oil-and-us-dollar-relationship-0

Crude Oil Production http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbblpd_m.htm

World Crude Oil Production by Year (Thousand Barrels per Day) http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?product=oil&graph=production

The significance of US oil consumption
As the single largest oil importer in the world, the United States’ oil demand can have a large impact on oil import and crude tanker demand. If US demand for oil grows, even in the face of increasing domestic production, imports could continue to rise. On the other hand, if demand isn’t growing as fast as domestic production, it negatively affects crude tanker demand. http://marketrealist.com/2013/10/increased-us-domestic-oil-negative-crude-oil-shippers/

Strong Oil Growth Driven by U.S. Operations
Devon continued to deliver strong oil production growth in the third quarter. In aggregate, oil production averaged 165,000 barrels per day, a 16 percent increase compared to the third quarter of 2012. The most significant growth came from the company’s U.S. operations, where third-quarter oil production increased 38 percent year over year. This dramatic increase in U.S. oil production is largely attributable to growth from Devon’s Permian Basin and Mississippian-Woodford Trend projects.

Total production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids averaged 691,000 oil-equivalent barrels (Boe) per day in the third quarter, exceeding the mid-point of the company’s guidance range by approximately 3,000 barrels per day. The company’s highest margin products, oil and natural gas liquids, now account for 43 percent of total production.

“Devon delivered another quarter of solid results, both operationally and financially,” said John Richels, president and chief executive officer. “Once again we significantly increased light oil production in the U.S., reflecting our continued success in the Permian Basin and emerging oil plays. Additionally, Devon’s disciplined pursuit of high-margin production has improved cash margins by 16 percent year over year to our highest level in the past eight quarters.” http://seekingalpha.com/news-article/8085992-devon-energy-reports-third-quarter-2013-results

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States will stride past Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's top oil producer in 2015, the West's energy agency said, bringing Washington closer to energy self-sufficiency and reducing the need for OPEC supply. http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20131112&id=17098999

allodial
11-13-13, 08:53 PM
One could wonder whether speculators drove gold and silver prices up for the purpose of giving rise to elastic currencies. Speculators, like banks aren't true sources of value.