NEWS FROM ARUBA 2001: UPDATE
The following new information is from my recent experiences and to add to
my past books that were published. It will serve as an update to those of
you that are interested in Aruba and to add as addendum to the 2000 edition
of the book on 'The Casinos of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St Maarten & Suriname
- The Dutch Caribbean'.
The Casablanca Casino in the Wyndham Hotel removed their Black $100.00
Hat & Cane chips and substituted the Chipco gray 'Bs. 100' chip with the
PRC # CAS - 100 CPO.1. This particular chip was previously used for their
Spanish South American clientele.
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|
 |
| AUA-CAS- 100 H&C.1 |
AUA-CAS- 100 CPO.1 |
They also removed their regular issue $25.00 green chip, AUA-CAS- 25 H&C.1,
and replaced it with their previous lime green 'credit chip' with the PRC
# AUA-CAS - 25 H&C.2.
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|
 |
| AUA-CAS- 25 H&C.1 |
AUA-CAS 25 H&C.2 |
The Excelsior Casino has issued a new $1.00 Chipco chip with a PRC
# EXC - 1 CPO.3 and the word 'Aruba' at the base of its rim.
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| AUA-EXC-1 CPO.3 |
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| AUA-EXC-2.5 CPO.1 |
They also have a novel $2.50 Chipco chip. This very attractive chip has a
hot pink color with yellow writing and has a PRC # AUA-EXC - 2.5 CPO.1.
Royal Cabana Casino:
On Monday March 5, 2001 the Government of Aruba closed the Royal Cabana Casino
under the ownership of Mr. Nathan Katz. I was in this casino just two days
prior to that date and everything seemed to operate as usual.
The Crystal Casino issued a new series of Silver Strikes with the
'S' mint mark and the new PRC # AUA-CRY - 10 SS.2. The previous issue was
minted at the Gold Duck Company with the 'GDC' mintmark both on the obverse
and the reverse side.
The Stellaris Casino in the Marriott Hotel also re-issued their Silver
Strikes with the 'G' mint mark instead of the previous 'S' mint mark from
the Sunshine Mint. They also issued a new $1.00 Bud Jones Plastic Inlay chip
with a new PRC # AUA-STE - 1 BJP.2. This color is white while the former one
with the PRC # STE - 1 BJP.1 has an 'off white' color.
The Copa Cabana Casino in a momentous move actually has two casino
tokens bearing its name. In all the years I have gone to Aruba, this is the
first time the casino name ever appeared in any of the Hyatt Regency Hotel
Casino gaming items. They issued new 5 cent and 25 cent brass-like tokens
from the 'WRM' mint. These tokens are struck with such great detail that one
feels that they should keep them rather than use them in the slot machines!
Both of these tokens are dated '2000' and were issued on November 20th, 2000.
The 25 center reminds me of the sound and feel of a $5.00 Dollar gold piece
when one places it on a hard table. The PRC # of the 5 center is, COP - .05
T.1, while the 25 center is COP - .25 T.1.
The Casino at the Radisson also has a series of great looking tournament
Chipco chips and a $5.00 'Match Play'. The PRC #'s of the Tournament chips
are: PRC - AUA-THE - 1- CPO.2, PRC # AUA-THE - 5 CPO.2, PRC # AUA-THE - 25
-CPO.2 and PRC# AUA- THE - 100 CPO.2.. The $5.00 match play is the 3rd 5 Dollar
chip in the Chipco series and has a PRC # AUA-THE - 5 CPO.3
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| AUA-THE- 5 CPO.3 |
Palace Casino's hidden treasures:
The Royal Palm Casino, which previously was the Palace Casino, has
a .999 Pure Silver $25.00 token that is absolutely stunning. The newly discovered
token has a PRC # of AUA-PAL- 25 T.1.
They also removed the great 5 cent tokens and is using US nickels. Therefore
the old 5-cent Royal Palm Casino tokens are unavailable.
All the PRC code numbers Pollack's Reference Code Numbers and are derived
from Ralph P. Pollack's third book, "The Casinos of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao,
St. Maarten & Suriname ~ The Dutch Caribbean" published in 2000.
'Til next time, Ralph.
Visit Dartmouth
Chips, Ralph Pollack's website
