Collector helping preserve Colorado casino history

You could call Eric Miller a chip off the off the old block. Miller, a Central City resident who makes his living as a building painter, is a third-generation casino chip collector.

“I met a few people up here collecting the tokens, but it took me a couple of years to catch the bug,” said Miller, who started his extensive collection in 1996. “I have chips from all the table games, then it took off from there. By 2000, I had a very good collection of all Colorado casinos. I started meeting like-minded collectors.”

Miller is a member of the Colorado Casino Collectibles Club, and publishes a newsletter for the club. He also belongs to the Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club, with nearly 8,000 members worldwide.

“That club started in the late ‘80s, and has an annual convention of casino collectibles – chips, tokens and matchbooks – anything with a casino logo on it.”

His Colorado chip collection alone boasts roughly 1,000 pieces. Rare chips in his collection include one from Red Horse, a Central City casino that operated for only 16 days before folding, and one from Mayor Willie’s Casino that was open for about as long as it takes to lose a single poker hand. He also has chips from Lilly Belle’s in Black Hawk, as well as chips from long-lost Cripple Creek casinos Aspen Mine and Casino and Madame June’s.

“If it wasn’t for the chip and token collectors, a lot of that early Colorado legalized gambling history could have been lost,” he said. “What makes chips and tokens collectible is once casinos are closed, there is a certain redemption period. Once that redemption is up, they’re legally required to destroy all those tokens and chips. Therefore, some become really collectible.”

One rare chip that eludes Miller’s grasp is one from a casino where Fitzgeralds now resides.

“The story is that they had one blackjack table when the casino closed,” Miller said. “(According to local lore) they took all the chips and tokens and poured them into wet footings of the new parking garage. They have a $25 chip from that casino, which is one of the more rare (valued at $2,500 to $3,000). There are only 12 known to exist.”

For more info on Colorado casino chip collecting, visit coloradocasinocollectiblesclub.com.

Say cheese. Is Central City cheesy? Rocky Mountain Treats certainly thinks so, and they’re honoring the gaming town’s cheesiness with a high form of flattery: food.

The Denver-based snack company, sold exclusively in King Soopers and City Market, has created the Central City Cheese Snack Mix (retail: $2.99), a bag of crunchy cheese-flavored goodies.

“Our whole line of the Rocky Mountain Treats is based off different landmarks in Colorado,” said Peter Brown, an account manager at Rocky Mountain Foods, the snack division’s parent company.

Cripple Creek has been similarly honored through Rocky Mountain Treats’ Cripple Creek Butter Toffee Peanuts. What about Black Hawk? The company is open to ideas. I suggested Black Hawk black licorice, but licorice isn’t in the line.

Brown says he’s open to suggestions. E-mail them to me at the address below, and I’ll print your ideas, and send them along to the company.

- Penny Parker is a columnist for The Denver Post. She’s always on the prowl for tidbits and tips from Colorado’s gaming communities. Call her at 303-619-5209 or email pparker@denverpost.com