Gaming counters have been used in Europe for gambling since the early 1700s. The practice originated in China and these ones were made there for the western market.
The counters were often intricately carved and sets could be ordered with a customer’s initials or other special mark. These personalised sets could contain 200 or more counters, and taking into account the return sea voyage, it could take two years from placing an order to receiving the goods.
The different shapes and sizes represented different monetary values. In Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen refers to Lydia talking ‘…incessantly of fish lost and fish won.’
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