Font used for denominations on certain poker chips

[ChrisGear]

Hello, I'm trying to identify the font used for the denominations on several mostly-unrelated poker chips. The fact that they're unrelated (i.e. not all from the same casino, and indeed not even all from "real" casinos) tells me that this is likely a font, and not hand-drawn. Also all three examples are from basically the same time period, roughly 1988-1992.

 

Sample #1 - Casino de Isthmus City - replica chips from the 1989 James Bond film "License To Kill". The replica chips were made in 1998 and again in 2005, but they all have the same font as the original chips from 1989.

 

 

Sample #2 - Frontier Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas NV - real casino chips issued 1992

 

 

Sample #3 - Gloria's Casino, small cardroom in California (opened 1990, closed 1991)

 

Thanks!

 

 

[ChrisGear]

Forgot to mention -- I have scoured all the usual places (Identifont, What The Font, etc.) and pored over MyFonts etc. for hours. No luck.

[Riccardo Sartori]

For the very little I know about chips making, they are made by specialised firms, that supply casinos and movie props departments alike. So, I don’t think it is unusual that different casinos and movies end up with similar denominations. I think that is also very probable that such firms use proprietary typefaces for this.

[ChrisGear]

Well, not to be rude, but I do know a lot about how chips are made, and I already know that these were all made by the same manufacturer. However, the manufacturer does not necessarily have anything to do with the designer(s), and I have never before come across any chips using "proprietary" typefaces. (Hand-drawn lettering or modified logotype, for sure, but never on the denominations.)

[Kevin Thompson]

I’m afraid you have been rude.

The fact that the chips you posted were all created by the same manufacturer (something you failed to mention at the outset, and obscured by claiming they were “mostly-unrelated”) is quite relevant, and helps support Riccardo’s assertion that the numerals are custom to the manufacturer.

I searched for the numbers myself, and came up empty. While that’s not conclusive proof that the numerals are unique, their shared source points strongly in that direction. The chip designers may pick templates and colors or even supply the artwork that surrounds the denominations, but the fact that the numbers are all the same across disparate designs would indicate that they are part of the manufacturer’s template. Since the chip designs seem to date from the very start of the digital font era, the numbers could be a phototypesetting font that has never been digitized, or were never a typeface at all.

Ralf, who runs this site, explains the latter quite well in another post (see the section titled Product lettering):

If you don’t trust our expertise, why do you post here?

 

[ChrisGear]

I apologize, I guess I misunderstood what Riccardo was trying to say, and took offense. I'm very aware that not everything is a font, but I didn't do a very good job of communicating my purpose. 

My original inquiry (and this is why I'm seeking out expertise) should have been more along the lines of "Does anyone recognize this typeface, and if so, do you happen to know if it exists as a digital font?" Also wondering if anyone recognizes it from usage on anything other than poker chips, which might give a clue to its identity or where to find a decent reference copy of it.

[Kevin Thompson]

We understood your original question.

Given that all the chips were manufactured by Paulson (which was acquired by Gaming Partners International, which in turn has been acquired by Angel), and that when I ran the numerals through the four major font matching databases and got no hits, Riccardo’s original assertion that the numerals are custom is the most likely answer.

I suggestion you reach out to the manufacturer directly and confirm with them.