Hi there, could you possibly tell me if a set of 5 dice stamped Sands Las Vegas on the 2 side 

are genuine? They show plenty of signs of wear and are marked with ring eye dots. Are they

likely to be genuine casino used or just souvenir / tourist issued? Any help would be appreciated.

Many thanks, Phil L. / Liverpool, England

Hi Phil,

Are the dice canceled in any way? Are the dice foil wrapped? Are the dice numbered the same? 

Phil, it sounds like you came by the dice not as a direct source from the Sands. Hard to say from 

here. It is possible that you have casino dice if they are numbered and canceled. 

Bird’s eye dice were more prevalent back in those days, and occasionally still seen in play today. 

The Sands dice I picked up years ago after the Sands was long gone have Sands Las Vegas on 

the one spot and the spot is solid white. No number and no cancel mark. Upon closer look, I just 

discovered one die is breaking down, concave sides, which is typical decay of old dice. So, doubt

my dice were ever handled by Frank Sinatra. 

You may do some research with or without results at the UNLV web site, look up Sands Casino. 

May find examples of old dice once used there.

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Hi again, thanks for your email the dice are not foiled wrapped, no serial numbers or cancellation 

marks, just Sands Las Vegas in ordinary Helvetica text on all five dice on side 2, in gold ink with 

plenty of wear and chips to all five of the dice. Not very transparent, more of a dense red, does this 

info help? Thanks Phil

Hi Phil, No not really much help to tell you with certainty that you have dice played at the Sands. 

However, it sounds like you have what is known as sanded dice. My set of Sands dice are sanded. 

Not that they have been sanded or altered, just as you describe, not transparent. The dice I have 

seen labeled Sands were sanded. Without knowing history of craps in Las Vegas, I don’t know 

when dice started being numbered or if they were always number going back to 1934. The fact 

of noticeable wear can mean anything, but nothing to do with lots of casino play. Just the opposite. 

Casinos want sharp edges that is why they change them frequently. How often? Have to look that up. 

Back in the Sand’s day, I would guess changing out the dice, checking the dice, would be common 

practice. Again, have to research that. I have seen plenty of casino dice without numbers. The 

explanation had to do with imperfections so the manufacture did not bother to number the dice as 

they would not be used in a game, but were still sold to the casino for souvenir purposes. 

In my search to add Sands dice to my collection of old casino dice, dice from the Sand’s were 

most scarce. Gambler’s general store in Las Vegas had a large bin of mixed dice from Nevada 

casinos. I’d spend an hour turning through the collection looking for matching numbers and dice from 

the old days. Mostly dice from downtown and Tahoe. No dice from the Dunes but I did find two 

mismatched dice from Sands. Upon closer examination, they are not the same size. One is ¾ the 

other 5/8 and made of different material as well as the font and point size are slightly different. I guess

twenty years or so ago, I was excited to find Sands dice and did not bother to critique. I have a book 

of old Las Vegas and the author favored the Sands Hotel over all the others. He writes about coffee 

mugs and ashtrays from the Sands, I image dice and chips are just as sought after at the time of closing.