Whats to stop me from making counterfeit casino chips?
Dear Cecil: It occurs to me that it would be much simpler to counterfeit casino chips than paper currency. Besides the fact that it’s the mob that’s after you and not the cops, why is this not done? Is there some kind of special watermark or antifraud device built into casino chips? It just seems so simple. —Harvey, Montreal Guest contributor Ianzin replies: Casinos are well aware of this possible scam, and take great precautions to prevent it. The truth is that it’s at least as hard to create counterfeit casino chips as it is to create counterfeit money, and maybe even harder. To begin with, the manufacture of genuine casino chips (known in the trade as “checks”) is more complicated than one might think – as you suspect, they’re not just discs of colored plastic. They are created, machined, and finished using very specialized equipment, and generally feature several antifraud measures ranging from serial numbers to embedded microchips, as well as each individual casino’s own logo and
