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Friday, January 21, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Coin dealer buys Binion's display
Jay Parrino confirms he is the new owner of a rare bill collection that was a tourist draw for a downtown casino.
By Joe Schoenmann
Review-Journal
A former Fremont Street casino worker has his "Holy Grail," and Las Vegas has said goodbye to a famous -- and often-photographed -- collection of money.
Jay Parrino, a 53-year-old coin dealer, confirmed Thursday that he has bought the display of 100 $10,000 bills that stood for almost 50 years at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas. Parrino said he made the deal in December and received the collection earlier this month.
"It doesn't get any more exciting than this," said Parrino, reached in Kansas City, Mo., via phone.
For decades the $10,000 bills, encased in plastic at the rear of the casino, were a draw for tourists who could receive a free photograph of themselves next to the display.
Parrino has been photographed numerous times with the bank notes and has spent hours studying them.
"(Over the years) I've looked at this thing thousands of times," he said. "It's just such an unbelievable item ... There's something very sexy about a $10,000 bill.
"It's the Holy Grail."
While he would not reveal the purchase price, Parrino figured each bank note is worth at least $60,000, and he spent under $10 million for them all.
"It's a crowning achievement," said the man who paid $1.5 million for a rare nickel in 1996.
That excitement was is in stark contrast to the shock of Vegas old-timers when they learned of the sale.
Even the city's poker-faced gamblers couldn't hide the hurt Thursday.
"That, that's a part of Benny," said Pug Pearson, referring to Lester "Benny" Binion, who in 1964 amassed the $10,000 bills to re-create the attraction first erected by Joe W. Brown in 1954. Brown sold the first one in 1959.
Bob Stupak, builder of another Las Vegas landmark, the Stratosphere, has collected pictures of every family member next to the monetary monument.
"I've had pictures of me and my kids, all my kids, from the times of 1 year old. So many pictures, my mom, my dad, friends who came to town, so many memories," Stupak said. "It's almost like family history. I'm extremely disappointed."
Sources close to the family said the glassed-in exhibit was sold by Horseshoe owner Becky Behnen because payments on its $3.5 million insurance policy were too taxing.
Speaking on Behnen's behalf, Sig Rogich said the display was a relic that simply couldn't keep up with the times.
"It's been 30 years since they put it up, and now people are using the B-word for billion," Rogich said. "A million dollars just isn't as attractive as it once was."
But this particular million held a special place in many hearts, due in no small part to the free pictures. Until December 1998, the Horseshoe hired photographers to take pictures of people -- more than 5 million over the years -- in front of the display.
"It's too bad," said Jack Binion, Behnen's brother, of the sale. Jack Binion, along with his late brother, Ted, and their sister Brenda sold their interests in the casino to Behnen in July 1998.
"But the other side of the coin is, a million dollars isn't what it used to be," Binion added.
"I can't tell you the number of people who have come up to me and showed me their family pictures" taken next to the landmark, he laughed.
Tom Moilanen may have taken some of those pictures. He worked as a Binion's photographer for five years, until Behnen ended the service. At home he has an album of the pictures he took.
"I had a baby in front of me, a gal who pulled a pot-bellied pig out of her purse. That was quite interesting," he said. "I had a gal who, without getting too graphic, wasn't wearing any underwear and she was squatting and the whole world knew about it."
Though he's not sure the display was a big draw for gamblers, Moilanen knows it was a great public relations ploy.
"We had people come in with pictures from the '50s, couples in their 70s and 80s, bringing in pictures of themselves 40 years ago," he said. "And the stories that we heard. It most definitely was a legend."
The Associated Press reported that the display was the largest single collection of $10,000 bills in existence. The Treasury Department halted distribution of the bills featuring the portrait of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Salmon Chase, in 1969. Today, only 340 remain in circulation.
But these 100 bills might be the best of the bunch. While onlookers over the years might have thought the Binion greenbacks were in bad condition, looking yellowed in the decades-old display, Parrino said they came out in mint condition.
The only yellowing, he said, was on the clear plastic that covered them.
"The guy who took them out for me said there's not a damaged note in the bunch," Parrino said. "When a $10,000 bill comes up, it's never in this condition. It's obviously the most valuable currency collection in the world."
Parrino will display the collection Feb. 10-13 at the Long Beach Coin & Collectibles Expo in California. But he doubts the bills will ever make their way back to Las Vegas again, at least as a collection. He already has a dozen people in mind who will pay "six figures" for just one of the rare bills.
"When they are marketed," he added, "I think they will sell very quickly."
And when that happens, all that will remain of the famous exhibit will be the giant, upside-down horseshoe that used to frame the collection.
But even that keepsake might disappear, if former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren has anything to do with it.
"I hope they just bought the million and left the horseshoe, because then I'd dicker on the horseshoe," said the collector of Vegas memorabilia. "Twenty years from now, when someone wants it, by golly, I'll have it."
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Printable version of this story
Ginger and Kirby Smith from San Antonio pose in front of the million dollar display at Binion's Horseshoe in December 1997. A 53-year-old coin dealer bought the display that stood in the downtown casino for almost 50 years.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
Some of the visitors to Binion's Horseshoe over the years struck interesting poses in front of the million dollar display that stood for nearly 50 years near the back of the casino.
Photo by Jeff Scheid.
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