Amazing number of Chuck E. Cheese token varieties!
Zoins
Posts: 34,287 ✭✭✭✭✭
Here's the high level summary of Chuck E. Cheese tokens from https://www.showbizpizza.com/, but it has an extensive list of varieties. Check it out!
Here's the list of tokens from just 1995 to 2000.
https://www.showbizpizza.com/tokens/95-00/index.html
Here's the overview:
https://www.showbizpizza.com/tokens/index.html
Welcome to the SP.com Token Museum and Gallery!
Here you will find a listing of every Chuck E. Cheese and ShowBiz Pizza token known to exist. Over time we'll be adding images to each token in the listing. Have a token that's not in our list, or information to share? You can contact us using our Contact / Feedback page and let us know!
Metal Types (Most Commonly Used)
- Brass is the most widely used metal. From the earliest to the most modern tokens, most of them are made of brass. Most of the common CEC and ShowBiz tokens to be found are brass.
- Bronze was only used during the first few years of production on various Pizza Time Theatre Tokens. It is reddish in color, but not as red as copper. Bronze can cometimes be hard to distinguish from oxidized brass.
- Nickel was often used to plate other metals, and both nickel brass and nickel zinc tokens exist for several of the design types.
- Painted tokens (usually red or blue) were used during the early years of PTT and ShowBiz. The paint would eventually wear off and often times damage the coin mechs, so this process was not used for very long. It should be noted that painting was done at the store level with common spray paint. Therefore these tokens, although collectable, are not included in our listings.
- Copper was also used to plate other metals. At the mint, copper plated zinc tokens were produced and used as manager tokens. Many tokens were also privately plated in copper for an early Pizza Time Theatre promotion - these were plated in bulk and often poorly done.
- Anodised (or Anodized) tokens were made through out the years, and were also used as manager tokens. Most often times, anodised tokens are pink. ShowBiz experimented with a rainbow of colors however, and tokens can be found in a variety of colors and shades.
- Zinc was sometimes used, mostly underneath plating. However some tokens exist that are made entirely of zinc. They are usually quite scarce and can be determined by their dull luster and often bluish tint. Many tokens were also privately plated in zinc for an early Pizza Time Theatre promotion - these were plated in bulk and often poorly done.
- Chromate coated tokens are some of the latest token-types produced. They are coated in a black chromate enamel and also used as management tokens in certain markets.
Metal Sizes (Most Commonly Used)
The most common token size is the 25mm - it is roughly the size of a US quarter. The smallest size used is the 20mm - which is roughly the size of a US dime.
The mid sizes - 22mm, 22.5mm, and 23mm are often hard to distinguish from one another without the use of a token gauge. This is toughest to determine on the ShowBiz tokens, since there's no particular CEC design that exists in all 3 sizes. If you happen to have examples of all 3 mid-sized ShowBiz tokens they can be distinctly compared - they slightly fit within one another. See scan above.
Comments
My website has a more complete list, and much more explanation/analysis. It also has tickets.
cectokens.com
US and British coin collector, and creator of The Ultimate Chuck E. Cheese's and Showbiz Pizza Place Token & Ticket Guide
Wow, your site is great!
I love Chuck E. Cheese and this is an entire universe of token collecting that I'm just getting exposed to!
Thanks! It’s been an obsession of mine for the last 5 years or so. I’ve almost got them all!
US and British coin collector, and creator of The Ultimate Chuck E. Cheese's and Showbiz Pizza Place Token & Ticket Guide
ChuckECheese Hell, a classic.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=D_H-nMXCRzE&feature=share
Your site and collection is great! When you get them all, you should consider making a print book or at least a PDF / Kindle version.
I've seen a lot of reference websites disappear over the years which is sad. With a PDF, you can have it hosted on the Newman Numismatic Portal. With a Kindle version, you can sell it on Amazon. Either way will allow your work to live on if maintaining a website ever becomes an issue. Not saying it will with yours, but I've seen it happen to other sites, and am even concerned about my own.
There’s a pdf “field guide” on the home page. It doesn’t contain a picture of every token like the website, but it has complete information.
It’s free!
US and British coin collector, and creator of The Ultimate Chuck E. Cheese's and Showbiz Pizza Place Token & Ticket Guide
Awesome! I know that lots of high-resolution photos can make PDFs very large.
If I was around a Chucky Cheese back then up till now I would weigh 1,000 pounds. And would have collected to tokens guaranteed. Nice web site @JoeLewis. Thanks
I do remember the showbiz pizza era! Lots of good memories.
I had no idea people collected Chuck E. Cheese tokens.... I should have known... some people collect belly button lint. Of course, I collect old (very old) decks of playing cards (a couple of hundred + year old decks, without numbers), and pocket flasks. So go for it... I will watch for them at yard sales or flea markets when the season starts... If I see any I will pick them up and let y'all know....Cheers, RickO
I do not collect Chuck E. Cheese tokens.
A man has draw the line somewhere.
Dead Cat Waltz Exonumia
"Coin collecting for outcasts..."
Never say never say never.
Who says our hobby is not dynamic? I have no interest but maybe this will attract some younger people to "coin" collecting.
Great post!
I worked in the arcade business for 17 years starting in 1990, the last 9 of which were spent as a Senior Amusements Manager at Dave & Buster's. I have a 'loose' collection of tokens from just about all of the arcade chains, as we used to get them in our machines at D&B all the time. In fact, we got so many Chuck E. Cheese tokens at one of the locations I worked at that we worked out a monthly exchange program with the manager of the Chuck E. that was nearby. They always had a lot of our tokens to give us.
I have some special D&B tokens, though. I have one with a reeded edge, the only one I saw when I was there, which none of the old-timers at D&B I showed it to had ever seen either. I also have a few older 'uncirculated' tokens, which are significant because back in the day every D&B used a case tumbler to polish all their tokens (not sure if they still do- they got rid of a lot of those nice little touches when they were last bought out). Older ones with dates and luster are going to be hard to come by.
I've thought about putting the loose ones in 2X2's and starting a formal collection, but haven't gotten around to it.