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Museum of Gaming History An Educational Project of The Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club, Inc. An IRS approved 501 (c) (3) Tax Exempt Not-For-Profit Corporation
Dedicated to the preservation and education of Gaming History
There have been many questions lately concerning Crest & Seal Chips.
What are they? What is the “crest”? What is the “seal”? Where and when were
they made? I will try to answer these questions.
They have been called Crest & Seal, Crest or Seal, Seal & Crest and
Seal or Crest. These “Cadillac” of all composition gambling chips, were originally
made by the United States Playing Card Co. (U.S.P.C.), in Cincinnati, OH,
from c.1907. U.S.P.C. continues to manufacture playing cards and other items
but ceased making chips about 1947 when their molds were purchased by The
Burt Co.
The Burt Co. was started as The Portland Billiard Ball Co., in Portland,
ME, in 1912 by Alonzo Burt. The Burt Co. had produced C&S chips both before
and after buying the U.S.P.C. molds in 1947. In about 1985, John Kendall,
a manager with the firm, bought The Burt Co. Jim Blanchard, the production
manager at Burt, bought the molds and opened his own company, Atlantic Standard
Molding. John Kendall named his company, Chipco International. The information
in this paragraph is courtesy of Eugene Trimble.
Instead of trying to define the meaning of the term, “Crest & Seal” in
my own words, I am enclosing a page from The Burt Co., courtesy of Dale Seymour.
This gives you the meaning of a C&S chip direct from the words of The
Burt Co.
There are chips presently being made by Bud Jones, mostly roulettes, that
are similar to Crest & Seals, except that there is no “seal.” You can
feel the edge of the inlay by running your fingernail across the chip surface.
You can not feel the inlay on a C&S chip.
For bragging rights, I am showing 150 chips from my collection as examples
of Crest & Seal chips. Only one color or denomination of each example
will be pictured, unless the reverse needs to be shown, as in Number 79 &
80.
I have identified and dated the specimens when that information was known
to me. Confirmation of the U.S.P.C. information is from actual labeled photographs
taken at the company, by and courtesy, of Howard Herz. Some labels from the
photographs give the person or company ordering the chips, but not the casino
or club name, nor the location where they were used. I welcome any additional
information that you may have regarding these chips.
CLICK TO ENLARGE TEXT
CLICK TO ENLARGE
10—Shipped to Louis Roth, Cincinnati, OH 1928 USPC
20---1934 USPC
No information
21 W. Elizabeth St.--- Detroit, MI 1923 Owner—John J. Ryan USPC
USPC
49 Camp---3305 E. 14th St., Oakland, CA 1931-1946 Eastman, Larry
Asian—No information
Asian—Sacramento, CA
Asian—No information
Asian—1931 USPC
Asian—No information
ACH/HAK—The Roosevelt, 1458 Yuba St., Redding CA 1947-1953 USPC
AC—Agua Caliente, Tijuana, Mexico 1928-1935 USPC
AG—Artistica Gallego, Montanea, Cuba 1931 USPC
AG---Artistica Gallego, Montanea, Cuba 1931 USPC
AG---Goodman’s Smoke Shop, Great Falls, MT 1937 USPC
Annapolis Yacht Club---Annapolis, MD 1930’s
Anona Cigar—No information
APB Smoke Shop---Raymond, WA 1930’s
Arid Club---Boise, ID 1936, Shipped to J. Weil & Co. USPC
CLICK TO ENLARGE
AS Club---Atlas Sport Club, Shipped to Langworthy Co., 1937 USPC
