In addition to chips I collect encased pennies (cents) and other coins from Nevada casinos, California and other States card rooms, pool halls, bowling alleys, horse racing tracks, etc. Basically I collect all encased coins with a gambling theme. Thought I’d share some of the more unusual examples in my collection.

If you have any of these for sale or trade please drop me an email. With a scan of both sides if possible. If I need it for my collection I will make you a buy or trade offer that will rock your world! (Much better than you could ever get on .)

If you have an encased cent in your collection and just want an opinion on its value and scarcity I can probably help with that too.

The Westerner Gambling Hall & Saloon, downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Both cents are 1951. The encasements are plastic. The white piece on the left is the more interesting encased. The shape of the encasement is a chamber pot. This goes back to when encased cents were “invented” as a souvenir idea, probably by the Whitehead and Hoag Co., for the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. The chamber pot reflects the Victorian Era’s preoccupation with the scatological. The handle of the chamber pot encasement is extremely thin. This piece is rare in any condition, but to find one with the handle intact is… heaven!

Club Cal-Neva, Reno, Nevada, with a 1952D cent. Ain’t this cool? I wouldn’t even trade it in for a free Guinness. This is called a “good for” encased, and is a specialty of some encased collectors. Many “good for” encased are from clothing stores / tailor shops and good for a dollar amount off a new suit. I’ve seen a couple of “good for” encased from real estate companies giving a discount on the purchase of land or a house lot. This is the only “good for” Nevada casino encased. It’s not rare, but a little tough to find, and can be pricey. These are offered on a few times a year.

Reno’s Bright Spot and Bright Spot Reno. 1973D and 1972D cents respectively. The date of the cent in an encased usually isn’t directly indicative of the date the piece was made, but it does give a general idea. Which of these was made first? I’m not sure, but I do know that Reno’s Bright Spot piece is harder to find.

Eldorado Club, Las Vegas, Nevada. Another downtown club. Both have 1948 cents. These two are different. Note the dots around the cent on the piece on the left, and the dash between Eldorado and Club on the piece on the right. I believe this was the second Nevada casino encased to be made. The first was probably Harold’s Club in Reno. Another thing I find curious is that Black Jack is called “21” on this encased. I’ve noticed that in other older Nevada casino advertising. Does anyone know when casinos started referring to this game as Black Jack?

Las Vegas Club, downtown Las Vegas Nevada. I’m showing two pieces here. A 1970D cent on the left and a 1971D cent on the right. Look closely… vive le difference! 49¢ Breakfast left and 79¢ Breakfast right. The original order for the 49¢ piece must have been in the thousands. This is probably the most common Nevada casino encased. If you want one for your collection don’t pay more than a couple of bucks for it. The 79¢ piece is harder to find. These pop up on from time to time, and sometimes can be found at coin shows, antique malls, etc. Probably a $5 piece at most.

These are what I call “Souvenir of…” encased cents. The Atlantic City encased has a 1946 cent. It’s obviously from a time way before casinos were legal there (1978), but I like it so it stays in my collection. Reminds me of the stories my folks tell me of A.C. when they were kids. I have another New Jersey encased in my collection, “Souvenir of Asbury Park.” When I was a kid my grandmother used to take me there. She taught me how to bet dimes on the wheel games on the boardwalk to win boxes of candy. I was six years old and my grandmother taught me how to gamble. Man, they don’t make grammas like that anymore. I may as well take this time to come completely out of the closet, yes… I’m from Jersey! And proud of it, pal! Got a problem with Jersey? Take it up with Archie or Rich Hanover.

The next encased is from Virginia City, Nevada. It’s got a 1956D cent and is in real tough shape. Probably hung on a key chain for a while, fell off, and got hit by a bus. I’d like to replace this one with an example in better condition, but I’ve never seen another of these.

Reno, Nevada, a 1953D encased cent. This one is weird. The back side of the encasement has not been struck. It’s smooth and flat. Someone has applied some type of label to it. I think that sometime in the 1950s a guy bought thousands of blank encased cents (perhaps a token manufacturer went bust) and went into business on the cheap. I’ve seen a few of these applied label encased from other locations; Joliet, Illinois and some town in Texas immediately come to mind. A real oddball.

Las Vegas Nevada with a 1971D cent. Look closely at this one. The D in Nevada is backwards. This is not an error encased cent. They’re all like that! A common Nevada encased.

Souvenir Reno, a 1952D encased cent. This one is very cool. One reason, it’s smaller than most round encased cents. This one measures 32mm in diameter where the norm is about 35mm. See the printing below the word Reno? Smallest letters I’ve ever seen on any token. It says, “EARL FANKHAUSER, FORT WAYNE.” This piece was made by Earl “The Penny Man” Fankhauser of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Mr. Earl was a prolific maker of encased cents. He made hundreds in a career that spanned several decades. Some collectors specialize in encased cents made by Mr. Earl. These pieces are simply called “Fankhausers.” An encased collector, Bryan Ryker, has written a book about Mr. Earl and his encased pennies called “The Penny Man.” An interesting read and an excellent addition (for less than $10) to an exonumia library. I believe he has a web site. Google encased cents and Ryker. Bryan also puts his book on once in a while. Usually in the Coins / Exonumia category.

Speaking of Fankhauser… when I first started collecting gambling encased cents, this was B.C. (before computers), I bid on an encased in a mail bid sale. It was a piece from the “Silver Slipper.” Bid way too much, but I got it. Turns out the piece was from a, you guessed it, freakin’ shoe store in Indiana! The next day I bought the Ryker book. There’s a lesson in this somewhere kids.
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