The Cercle de la Presse came up while trying to ID a plaque that John B had posted on this board, the chip was unfinished. That chip is shown next to a second chip with the same monogram, however, the scrolls are filled in "Cercle de la Presse", so we can now clearly ID where John's monogrammed chip was intended for. Now... there has been some confusion as to exactly "where" this "Cercle de la Presse" was? Well... seems the advanced research powers that be have taken pity on this problem. The following information was passed on to me and will clear up some things.

"I think the chip might be from the Cercle de la Presse which was located in Paris. It opened in 1876 on rue Le Peletier
and moved to 6 Boulevard des Capucines in 1882, right around the corner from the Paris Opera house. This “Press Club,”
although it provided amenities to members of the fourth estate, was primarily a club for high rollers to play baccarat in
a large upstairs gaming room. In 1884 it had 1200 members including many dukes and princes. It was described by
a New York Times correspondent in 1885 as “the most luxurious club in the world” and “the greatest gambling club
in the world.”

It was located next door to the “Café Americain.” Jean Beraud made several paintings of the boulevard including this
one from around 1890. On the right edge of the painting can be seen “Café Ame” which is the Café Americain. The
place immediately to its left is the Cercle de la Presse."

photo from 1889 looking down the boulevard from the opposite direction from the painting above—Cercle is to the left of the trees:

map from late 1880’s:

current aerial:

membership card—CP logo on card not exactly the same as on chip:

1878 article, when at first location:

A later desciption when located Boulveard des Capucines; mentions “ivory plaques”:

Description of the club from the French paper Figaro in 1883, shortly after moving to new location (mentions some names
of dukes and princes who are members, talks about baccarat at the club, lists names of officers, gives a description of the
club’s interior):

New York Times—August 8th 1885:

In 1894 the directors of the club voted to dissolve:

official notice of dissolution in French newspaper Le Matin:

The club re-opened sometime later but, according to one observer, attracted more gourmets than gamblers.