DrJohn's Chip Pr0n #42 - Dragonara Palace Malta Clays & plaques (1 Viewer)

[BiGGyT]

@VivasTable , thanks for the info from your Uncle, makes sense the division, just good to know for sure. I also was wondering if you/he knew why some of the plaques have serial#s and some do not. Finally, at the tables that used the clay chips, would they use the jetons or plaques on the tables for bets over 5lm?
T

 

[chipinla]

I have a bunch more Dragonaras on the way! Hopefully it’ll be as large as the last batch. I have a fun relabel concept I’m doing with some of them this time.

 

[Okku]

I have a bunch more Dragonaras on the way! Hopefully it’ll be as large as the last batch. I have a fun relabel concept I’m doing with some of them this time.
View attachment 916796

JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZUS

 

[VivasTable]

I have a bunch more Dragonaras on the way! Hopefully it’ll be as large as the last batch. I have a fun relabel concept I’m doing with some of them this time.
View attachment 916796

I would love to get in on some of these. Le tme know what's happening with them

 

[allforcharity]

This has just got me wondering. What method have people been using to clean the LGK Dragonara chips, either the inlaid or the hot stamps?

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

This has just got me wondering. What method have people been using to clean the LGK Dragonara chips, either the inlaid or the hot stamps?

My experience has been that these chips are pretty sensitive to cleaning. At least the inlayed ones. My 50 cent chips are the dirtiest and the most worn. I tried a warm Dawn soak with some light toothbrush scrubbing and felt that I did some damage to the inlays, without really making much progress on the gunk stuck down in the mold. So I stopped and am just using them as is.

The chips on the left are after cleaning and the chips on the right are pretty similar to what they looked like before. If you look closely, you can see some print missing and some discoloration to the inlays on the left. And they are really not any cleaner.

I believe @chipinla put some pretty heavily used hot stamps in an ultrasonic. It took off most of the hot stamp, but he was pleased with how well they cleaned up. He posted some pics and commentary somewhere, but I don't recall the thread. Maybe he will chime in.

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

What is the manufacturer of these ?
Very nice sets in this thread !

 

[allforcharity]

I believe @chipinla put some pretty heavily used hot stamps in an ultrasonic. It took off most of the hot stamp, but he was pleased with how well they cleaned up. He posted some pics and commentary somewhere, but I don't recall the thread. Maybe he will chime in.

Thanks for the info. I have the faded stamp version of the chips and am not worried about the stamp condition because I will eventually mill. Thinking of a Greek Mythology theme.

 

[chipinla]

Here’s some of them that @Josh Kifer milled for reference.

 

[Josh Kifer]

View attachment 917072
Here’s some of them that @Josh Kifer milled for reference.

Yup. They mill fine. Arnt the easiest, but it's doable.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

What is the manufacturer of these ?
Very nice sets in this thread !

B.C. Wills

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

B.C. Wills

Are they compression molded chips ?

 

[chipinla]

Are they compression molded chips ?

Yes. I don’t have scale either but they’re heavy. Not sure if leaded but metal flakes look visible to me up close.

 

[BiGGyT]

Dibs on the 25c

 

[pluto]

This has just got me wondering. What method have people been using to clean the LGK Dragonara chips, either the inlaid or the hot stamps?

I took a pin and ran through the whole zig zag pattern on every chip, ended with a disgusting pile of 1970s dirt after a rack of the 50 cents inlay chips. After that I handwashed every chip with dawn dish soap and an ultrasonic toothbrush. Some of them cleaned up way better than others. This took forever!

 

[pluto]

The $5s cleaned up pretty nice! Feels like there were multiple runs of the 50c's made. Some are pretty worn and rounded and others I can stand on edge.

The center 50c chip shows the inlay damage that @TX_Golf_N_Poker described. Seems to me to be just a worn label that didn't like the hand cleaning. I have this on ~15 of my 100 50c chips. 50c on the far end has not been cleaned with the ultrasonic toothbrush yet.

@allforcharity 's beautiful custom sample set for comparison since I had them on the table!

 

[chipinla]

My source is still “sorting” ha… just boxes of these guys…

 

[VivasTable]

View attachment 918603
My source is still “sorting” ha… just boxes of these guys…

Is this typically how the bulk retired chips show up? I imagine lots of folks on the forum weeping, ha.

 

[chipinla]

Is this typically how the bulk retired chips show up? I imagine lots of folks on the forum weeping, ha.

I would say it’s just this guy but he’s a hoarder. I’ve purchased thousands of chips from him. He goes through boxes in his house and comes across them like this. It’s crazy. He came across some dice the other day also. Nothing crazy but he definitely has some neat vintage stuff.

 

[chipinla]

Also, he doesn’t ship them like this. He always packs them up solid.

 

[chipinla]

Finally arrived! Ready for a good cleaning!

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Finally arrived! Ready for a good cleaning!
View attachment 939575View attachment 939576

SHHHHHHH! Don't tell everyone yet!!!

 

[chipinla]

I do love how these cleanup

 

[allforcharity]

View attachment 940663
I do love how these cleanup

Did you do it the hard way? Brush and dish soap?

 

[chipinla]

Did you do it the hard way? Brush and dish soap?

Ultrasonic with some handsoap

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

This has just got me wondering. What method have people been using to clean the LGK Dragonara chips, either the inlaid or the hot stamps?

My experience has been that these chips are pretty sensitive to cleaning. At least the inlayed ones. My 50 cent chips are the dirtiest and the most worn. I tried a warm Dawn soak with some light toothbrush scrubbing and felt that I did some damage to the inlays, without really making much progress on the gunk stuck down in the mold. So I stopped and am just using them as is.

The chips on the left are after cleaning and the chips on the right are pretty similar to what they looked like before. If you look closely, you can see some print missing and some discoloration to the inlays on the left. And they are really not any cleaner.

View attachment 916938

I believe @chipinla put some pretty heavily used hot stamps in an ultrasonic. It took off most of the hot stamp, but he was pleased with how well they cleaned up. He posted some pics and commentary somewhere, but I don't recall the thread. Maybe he will chime in.

I took a pin and ran through the whole zig zag pattern on every chip, ended with a disgusting pile of 1970s dirt after a rack of the 50 cents inlay chips. After that I handwashed every chip with dawn dish soap and an ultrasonic toothbrush. Some of them cleaned up way better than others. This took forever!

After cleaning several racks of Dragonaras, both inlayed and stamped, I can safely say that my post above was incorrect. The damage on the inlays after cleaning was not caused by the cleaning. Quite a few of my chips simply had damaged inlays in the first place. These chips will withstand a a good long soak in hot Dawn water, and a vigorous scrub with a toothbrush. Those that were not already damaged will come through this process looking very nice. Filthy inlays clean up really well, and many of them look like new.

As @pluto stated, many of these old chips from the 60s and 70s have a lot of crud in those LGK grooves. I am currently going through almost every one of my chips with a pick tool, then soaking in hot Dawn water, them scrubbing, and finally oiling. The end result is quite awesome. After all the work I will have put into these when they are all done, I think I would have to get about $10 a chip to ever sell this set!!! LOL!

Tools of the trade. Upper left after running that pick through the grooves. Rest of chip grooves are black with crud.

Here are some inlayed £1 chips before and after cleaning.

And here is a sampling of different chips after cleaning and oiling.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

I finally got enough of these cleaned up to gather them all together for a family photo shoot.

 

[TheBigTater]

Large Greek Keys also know a SuperGems are a PITA to clean especially the endless grooves. I found a dental pick is the best tool for the job. Very time comsuming but well worth it for my favorite chip mold.

What is the manufacturer of these ?
Very nice sets in this thread !

Mold was owned by a few but all were produced by Burt/ASM per Jim Blanchard.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Yes. I don’t have scale either but they’re heavy. Not sure if leaded but metal flakes look visible to me up close.
View attachment 917156

I have weighed some of these. The inlayed chips are not leaded. They weigh in around 9 to 9.5 grams.

On the other hand, I am pretty sure that the older, hot stamped chips are leaded! These chips are sooo sweet! They really handle great! And this particular rack of mustard base with orange edges spots are in excellent, maybe even near mint condition. With sharp edges and clean grooves. It's possible they may have never been used in the casino. In fact, this color combination is not even shown in the Chip Guide. They only show the mustard 5 pence chip with a dark blue edge spots. I have one of those, in front of the others in the pics above.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Large Greek Keys also know a SuperGems are a PITA to clean especially the endless grooves. I found a dental pick is the best tool for the job. Very time comsuming but well worth it for my favorite chip mold.



Mold was owned by a few but all were produced by Burt/ASM per Jim Blanchard.

The good thing about the endless grooves all being in a continuous line is I can start in one spot and scrape around about one third of the chip. Then I stop to brush everything out with the toothbrush, then continue scraping. It's a tedious process, but I can do a barrel of them in about 40-60 minutes. I've been working through my collection about 20-30 chips a night. Picked, cleaned and oiled.