Immys Casino Royale

[Immy]

Sleepy's dime thread was the inspiration for this (with apologies to the James Bond franchise). Now that I'm visiting the El Cortez more often than usual (aka one of the last coin-op casinos in Vegas) it's time to create a thread to post ongoing results. I can't say it'll be as frequently updated as Sleepy's, but count on at least one or two excursions a month with hopefully interesting finds. Only wish I had the stamina and eyesight of my younger years.

In addition, with about 35 years of casino searching in the books, I'll augment my posts with stats and trivia from past casino visits.


Yesterday was a pretty great day amongst the nickels. These two beauties were in my bucket from around $100 searched. And after some Nik-A-Date treatment the year 1916 emerged. 2nd buffalo this year!


I always try to situate myself near the self-serve coin counters since the reject chutes are good sources of stuff. Yesterday was no exception. A guy came in with a large bag of non-casino coins. We got chatting and he said he got them from a storage unit he bought. Told him I'd take any rejects he didn't want and he gave me the 1981 Taiwan 10 dollars pictured above. Checking another machine also got me the 1950 Hong Kong 10 cent-er, my oldest foreign coin this year. Great stuff!

Fun Stats: Last 1916 buffalo I found was on 4/27/04. And, amazingly, the last 45-S war nickel I found on...9/3/11, exactly eight years ago to the day!

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 1999, I completed a roll of 1954-D nickels.

[Sleepy Holow]

Great idea for a thread...long overdue! Like the name, too. I used nik-a-date for the first time a few weeks back on a buff I had found back in 2013. Turned out to be a 1915, which was cool.

[ArkieBassMan]

I always venture to the El Cortez when in Vegas (several times yearly) and search a few hundred in halves. Haven't seen the first silver, as expected.

[Immy]

I always venture to the El Cortez when in Vegas (several times yearly) and search a few hundred in halves. Haven't seen the first silver, as expected.

I had planned on that yesterday but the 50-cent machines were full of people! And worse yet, I could hear silver.

So close...

[Greastart]

I had planned on that yesterday but the 50-cent machines were full of people! And worse yet, I could hear silver.

So close...

Anyone out there that can smell silver?....that would be TORTURE!

[maine_Jim]

Hey Immy, besides the crh how do you do in the casino? What are your go to machines and tables?

Maine_Jim

[Immy]

Haven't played table games in many, many years. A couple of local spots used to have dime routlette, which was a blast, but that has long since disappeared.

I'm a low roller (nickel poker machine guy) but even that I keep to a minimum since finding a buffalo or war nickel is quickly negated by a $20-$40 loss. Sometimes I'll go just to play for a bit and then walk around downtown. It's changed so much in the last ten years, for both good and bad. I'm hooked on Naked City Pizza in the El Cortez.

Planning to go this Tuesday.

[baddbluff]

Pizza Rock downtown is another great pizza joint.
Secret Pizza inside the Cosmopolitan is awesome too.
I’ve thrown a few hundys in the 50c slots there a few times but have yet to score a silver. Good luck to you.

[Immy]

Pizza Rock downtown is another great pizza joint.

I'll have to check it out, thx.

Secret Pizza inside the Cosmopolitan is awesome too.

A friend and I went the Cosmo recently to try to locate the hidden places in their food court. We had already eaten but found Secret Pizza after seeing the wall of vinyl leading down a hallway. And they have pinball in there too! Have to actually eat there someday.

I’ve thrown a few hundys in the 50c slots there a few times but have yet to score a silver. Good luck to you.

It's pretty hit or miss. Best part is the machines are right next to the cage so cashing in is just a few steps away. You have to be careful though. The slot people will get wise to what you're doing if you simply cash out over and over. Patrons will give you funny looks too, and I don't want to give people ideas and perhaps create competition. I'll try $100 when I come in and $100 when I leave, if machines are available. Doesn't look too suspicious that way.

[Immy]

More goodies from the Cortez today. Roughly $200 produced the following -


Another buffalo! No Nic-A-Date needed this time, since 1928 is easily visible. Got another 1950-P also, roll total now stands at 32. Held my breath as I turned it over.


I'm discovering that the coin machines are pretty much used whether the coins are from the casino or not. There is a 5% fee (which beats Coinstar) but if you've joined their slot club (Club Cortez) the fee is waived.

The result is the occasional foreign to be snagged from the reject slot. Last week a 1950 Hong Kong coin became my oldest foreign for the year. Well that reign didn't last long, surpassed by King Farouk himself who's pictured on this awesome 1938 Egyptian 5 milliemes. Super stoked to nab that one. A British 20p (1993) and Canadian 25 cents (2008) came along for the ride as well. (Not sure why the first pic came out orange-y. 2nd pic is better.)

$100 in halves produced nada.

Will probably put off casino searching for the rest of the month. Encountered some nasty road construction that made my commute home a miserable, hour-long drive. It's usually half that. But I'm ecstatic about these results!


Fun Stats: Last 1928 Buffalo slot find was on 1/8/08 at the Western, the last penny slot casino in Vegas. It sadly closed its doors in 2012.

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2002 I found a 2002-S nickel, the only same-year proof I've ever found in a casino.

[Megalodon]

Love the thread and the title!

One of the many jobs I worked in college 1973-77 was making change in the campus center's pinball arcade. Hard to believe but I sadly never found a single silver quarter. So dumb that people would beat on and tilt the machines.

[Sleepy Holow]

Very nice day indeed, Immy! Two sub-10M minted coins and a buff all on the same day...a good day indeed.

[Immy]

Decided to brave the construction horrors around the El Cortez today (it was much worse than before) and I'm glad I did! Check out the casino spoils below.


It was a double buffalo day, and yep, that's a D mintmark on one of 'em. Couldn't wait to give them both a Nic-A-Date cleansing! It revealed a 1917 and a 1915-D, the latter being a new date discovery I believe. Some of my coin records were misplaced during a move two years ago so I can't confirm 100%, but I'm pretty sure. The last 1917-P buffalo I found was on 9/30/06.


Silver made a showing too with this 1944-D, the first appearance for that date/mm since 11/15/08. Couldn't resist pocketing this punctured North Carolina quarter (2001-P) left in the coin counter reject slot.


And speaking of abandoned coins, this trio of Philippine 10 sentimos was another coin counter score (2014, 2015, 2017). All were new to the the collection.

Great day, but lordy was a mess of road closures Downtown is at the moment.

Fun Stats: My last double buffalo day was 12/6/08 when my casino cup gave up a 1937-P & a 1913-S Type 1.

This Week in Casino Searching History: In 2001, I topped off a roll of 1949-P nickels, the 16th of an eventual 47 completed rolls.

[Sleepy Holow]

Any day you find a Buff with a mint mark is a great day...Good on you for getting out there. Congrats on the herd! I'd be interested to see a list of Buffs you've found in the wild, but don't go tearing your house apart or anything. Just curious...

[Immy]

I'd be interested to see a list of Buffs you've found in the wild, but don't go tearing your house apart or anything. Just curious...

It's maddening. I knew these notes were important, since they showed not only buffalos but Franklins found in the casino wilds. I went to a file where I knew I put them and...not there. And we're talking paper lists here, not something I might have accidentally deleted. Might be able to partially reconstruct them from backup stats, but that only started in 1997.