Casino collectibles from Vegas and beyond have become a hot category in the collectibles market. Particularly in the U.S. where Native American Indian-run casinos have exploded onto the landscape in recent years, there now are that many more pieces of memorabilia to collect. Of course like any collectible, the rarer the piece, the more valuable it becomes.

For many American collectors, Las Vegas is Mecca for casino memorabilia. The Golden Age of the 1950s and '60s in Las Vegas calls to mind fond images of happy-go-lucky gamblers and the Rat Pack playing the Strip. Any item from this era will usually fetch more than modern pieces, but today's casinos have caught onto the collectible craze. Often issuing one-time chips to commemorate dates or people, modern casinos are now adept at manufacturing their own collectibles.

Worldwide, there are more than 2,700 members of the Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club hailing from all 50 states and eight foreign countries. A look at their quarterly magazine can give potential collectors important insights into this unique collecting subculture. Though many people's focus is chips and tokens, any item sporting a casino logo is a possible collectible.

Collectors covet everything from tokens to swizzle sticks, ashtrays, napkins, room keys, matches, dice, ink pens, blackjack table felts, and more. To learn more about the collectibles from your favorite casino--whether you've played there or not--get onto one of the many websites run by the Chips Club, and those run by individual collectors. Casino collectibles are a great bet for high-rolling collectors anywhere.