The History of the CURACAO HILTON
HOTEL & CASINO
For those of you who do not know where Curacao is, it is just off the coast
of Venezuela, South America. Curacao is an island that is thirty-eight miles
long and is just two and a half miles wide at its narrowest dimension.
The discovery of oil in Venezuela in 1914 prompted United States oil companies
to build refineries on this island and thus gave an impetus to an industrial
revolution. Curacao has a great sea going history and its shipping port is
one of the best in the world. Its airport has the longest runway in the Caribbean.
In 1967 the Curacao Hilton was built with 200 ultra modern guest rooms and
is located about a mile and a half west of downtown Wilemstad which sits on
Piscadera Bay.
|
|
| View of the Curacao Caribbean Hotel & Casino |
Over the past 33 years a succesion of several hotels and their adjacent casinos
have occupied the same property. Here is the chronological order of casinos
at this spot:
- Curacao Hilton (HIL)
- Curacao Concorde (CON)
- Curacao Caribbean (CAR)
- Curacao Casino Resort (CCR)
The first table gaming chips used had the Christy & Jones (C&J) mold
with the shinny Hat & Cane mold. Both a large eight pointed star logo
and the denomination are located in the center inlay of the chips, PRC # HIL
– 5 C&J.3, figure 1.
|
|
 |
| FIGURE 1 |
FIGURE 2 |
In 1968 they issued both proof and regular tokens, in both 50 cents and one-dollar
denominations by the Franklin Mint. The obverse shows the eight point star logo
similar to the chip while the reverse has the hotel view on it, PRC # HIL -
.50.2, figure 2. During the same era the Hilton Casino also used a $5.00 Christy
& Jones red chip ‘non-negotiable’ ‘no cashout value’. These rare, red chips
are extremely attractive with 3 x 3/8 cream inserts and gold lettering in the
white center inlay, figure 3.
|
|
| FIGURE 3 |
The next chips were of the H.C. Edwards & Co.’s ‘H.C.E.’ mold. These
were ordered from the Burt Company on May 3,1977. This chip is very regal
looking with the hotel’s eight point star logo with a ‘CH’ in the center of
this logo, PRC # HIL - 5HCE.1, figure 4.
On June 15, 1978, they again changed ownership and used the Jay Myer Scroll
mold on all of their chips. This chip is one of only a few that actually have
the word ‘casino’ as part of the chip and has the PRC code # PRC # HIL – 5
S.1, figure 5.
The casino changed ownership and the name of the hotel became the Curacao
Concorde Casino. The chips were Paul-son’s Hat & Cane mold. This is the
only casino from Curacao that has a chip with the word CREDIT on it, PRC #
CON – 25 H&C.2. Figure 6 is the $5.00 Hat & Cane chip, PRC # CON –
5 H&C .1.
The casino again changed ownership to the Curacao Caribbean Hotel & Casino.
They used the Bud Jones Metal Inlay chips, PRC # CAR - 5B.2. They also were
still using the defunct Concorde's $5.00 Hat & Cane chip on their Blackjack
tables, PRC # CON - 5H.1.
In May 1998 the casino again changed its name and all of its chips to the
Curacao Casino Resort. They are now using the new full graphic Paul-son’s
Hat & Cane chips, PRC # CCR – 2.5H.1, figure 7. This chip shows the view
of downtown Willemstad from the Otrabanda side while the other side of this
$2.50 chip has the logo common to all of their chips - the palm tree in the
middle of the word ‘Casino’. The $5.00 chip has a full graphic topographical
view of the hotel, PRC # CCR - 5H.1.
All of the above reference numbers are derived from Pollack’s book “The Casino
Chips and Tokens of the DUTCH CARIBBEAN, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao & St.
Maarten” ==================
Grand Holiday Casino (GHC)
This casino was first opened by Danny Jones in 1985 after he purchased it
from Frank King (formerly King International Casino). The GHC's chips were
the colorful Chipcos, figures 1 & 2, and are now obsolete so, if you have
any of these chips hold on to them, they will be good collector's items! If
you don't have the GHC Chipcos email me. On September 1,1998 the GHC was sold
to Mike Posner and he renamed the casino Excelsior Casino. I recently had
spoken with Mike about the GHC's inventory of chips and he can not release
any of the old chips for another year or so.
|
|
 |
| FIGURE 1 |
FIGURE 2 |
Crystal Casino
The Paul-son's Hat & Cane $5.00 and $25.00 chips are no longer! They
have been replaced with Bud Jones inlays with indented starburst incused
lines emanating from the center, figures 3 & 4.
|
|
 |
| FIGURE 3 |
FIGURE 4 |
If you had collected these Hat & Canes you would have noticed 3 varieties
of each $5.00 and $25.00 ones! The standard playing chips and two varieties
of other denominations. Each 'credit' chip had a bold or a thinner spelling
of the word 'credit', figures 5 & 6.
|
|
 |
| FIGURE 5 |
FIGURE 6 |
These are now quite rare and will fetch a premium for collectors. Please
bear in mind, that only a few casinos in the world have casino chips with
the word 'credit' on them! The other way casinos distinguish credit or marker
chips from regular 'play' chips is by the color of the chip with the same
denomination. In Aruba, the Stellaris Casino in the Marriott Hotel, and the
Hyatt Regency Casino in the Hyatt Hotel differentiate regular 'play' versus
'credit' chips is via different colors in the mold areas, the center inlay
logo is usually the same.
Alhambra Casino
The previous Hat & Cane dark green $25.00 chip with 3x1/4 Blue
& Orange inserts chips worn (PRC# ALH-25 H&C.1) and were recently
changed to newer Hat & Cane chips. This new $25.00 chip is lime green
with 4x1/4 Navy Blue & Turquoise inserts (PRC# ALH-25 H$amp;C.2, figure
7.
|
|
| FIGURE 7 |
'Til next time, Ralph.
Visit Ralph
Pollack's website
