Over the last couple months I've been sharing some of the fun Silver Strikers commemorative tokens that could be won by playing the Silver Strikers slot machines at casinos around the world. Often they can be one of the few reminders of hotels and casinos that have been closed permanently when the could no longer pay their loan payments. Today I wanted to share another piece of Las Vegas history with another token that came from a casino that no longer exists.
The Hard Rock Hotel opened it's doors in 1995 just off of the Las Vegas Strip. It was the first hotel that was themed with rock n roll and was rather small when compared to the much larger hotel/resorts all along the Strip. They even had The Eagles and Sheryl Crow play at their grand opening! Sadly it didn't take long before the hotel ran into cash flow problems and multiple changes in ownership ensued. It was renovated and expanded several times but ultimately closed it's doors for good in 2020 after Virgin Hotels bought them out.
One interesting fact that I didn't know is that actor Ben Affleck was permanently banned from the Hard Rock's black jack tables in 2014 on suspicion of card counting. Back when the mafia ran Las Vegas if you were caught counting cards you weren't banned, you most likely ended up with broken fingers or in a shallow grave in the desert! So I guess Ben got off easy...
Have a look at this gorgeous token:
About he token:
Casino: Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Denomination: $20 Gaming Token value
Composition: 99.9% silver with heavy gold electroplate
Mint: Global Minting
Edge: Full reeded
Obverse: Hard Rock Hotel logo
Reverse: Fender Stratocaster guitar
Weight: About 0.6 Troy ounces
This token is a real beauty! The silver is electroplated with 24 karat gold in what they call "heavy gold electroplate". How that differs from standard electroplating I have never been able to figure out. It's one of the prettier tokens that I own, and if recall I think I bought it off eBay . Since they are 99.9% silver they're also great for collectors and stackers!
In front of the Hard Rock Hotel they had a large Fender Stratocaster as their sign, at the time of installation it was the largest Fender Stratocaster in the world. However it now been disassembled and was sold off after the closure of the hotel. But I found this picture of the iconic guitar:
What a gorgeous shot, I just had to share it!
The Fender Stratocaster electric guitar was first released for sale in 1954 and has been produced ever since. It featured three pickups and a spring tension vibrato system allowing a temporary pitch change on the strings. Over the years it has gone under many changes and evolutions to improve the sound. It has been the guitar of choice for many legendary guitarist like Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend, and Eddie Van Halen. Van Halen combined parts of various guitars to the Stratocaster body to produce the Frankenstrat in an effort to produce unique sounds that no other guitar could replicate. There is a copy of it on display in the National Museum of American History which is part of The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.
One of Jimi Hendrix's Fender Stratocasters
Eddie Van Halen's Frakenstrat
If you're interested in a more detailed history under references I've included some interesting Wikipedia articles.
The Hard Rock Hotel didn't last very long and is now part of Las Vegas history... but at least you can still own a piece of history with the Silver Striker tokens!
Thank you for stopping by and taking time to read my post, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions please feel free to leave them below. Thanks for you your support and have a great rest of the weekend everyone!
Keep on stacking!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
References:
https://www.silverstrikers.com/Web/Catalogs/SilverStrikes/Nevada/HardRockLVnv/Hard-Rock-LVnv-Page-05.php/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Stratocaster_players
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Stratocaster
https://guitar.com/features/artist-rigs/rare-guitars-jimi-hendrixs-1963-fender-stratocaster/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstrat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Rock_Hotel_and_Casino_(Las_Vegas)
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 24 people re-blog my post, thank you so much! You guy are the best! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it:
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Congratulations 
You will receive 3 HSBI!
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win 3 HSBI units! Just one prize for the lucky winner. An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prize. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
Contest Update: I'll extend this contest out for one more day until 2 PM California time tomorrow (11/14/2023). Since I'm not drawing a winner today I will do two prizes tomorrow instead of one, so two winners tomorrow!
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.
