Flamingo Las Vegas" Bugsy Siegel / Meyer Lansky Framed Collage Featuring An Authentic Flamingo Opening Day Poker Chip From 1946 & Meyer Lansky Worn Swatch!! This is a great Vegas / Mobster memorabilia item as this framed collage recognizes Bugsy and Meyer during the era when they created the first mega hotel/resort on the Las Vegas Strip!It is very rare to find original opening day Flamingo chips from the opening year especially from when Bugsy and Meyer "ran the joint", as Bugsy was only alive for 6 months after it's opening. The chip has been marked with a hole through it by the casino to show it is an expired-used chip that was no longer tender currency on the tables. In addition, these chips are said to not have been in much circulation as the hotel changed the name the from "The Flamingo" to "The Fabulous Flamingo" after only 4 months of being open. All items that didn't have the "Fabulous" name in there were replaced with new ones like chips, ashtrays, matchbooks, any printed paper materials and more.Siegel traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he handled and financed some of the original casinos. He assisted developer William R. Wilkerson's Flamingo Hotel after Wilkerson ran out of funds. Siegel took over the project and managed the final stages of construction. The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946 at a cost of over $6 million (at the time) to poor reception and soon closed. It reopened in March 1947 with a finished hotel. Three months later, on June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot dead at the home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, in Beverly Hills, California. The day after Siegel's murder, David Berman and his Las Vegas mob associates, Moe Sedway and Gus Greenbaum, walked into the Flamingo and took over operation of the hotel and casino.This piece features historical information about how Siegel got the name "The Flamingo" for this new mob-owned property in Las Vegas and also has playing cards that were used by the hotel years later. On the far left middle of the way into the piece is an actual swatch from a suit worn by the mobster accountant, Meyer Lansky and includes a Letter of Authenticity from his daughter certifying that this was actually worn by him! Wow!! To own any personal item from one of the most iconic mobsters of all time is pretty hard to get as Mr. Lansky as been deceased since 1983. It took us 2 years to find one of these poker chips as Poker Chip collectors do not resell these, they sock them away in their collections forever as they are one of the most iconic chips of all time.We can't emphasize this enough how rare it is to find anything from when Vegas' oldest strip hotel was brand new (1946-1947) & Bugsy Seigel was still alive!!! Bugsy laid it all on the line to make sure he had this hotel finish off construction and operated by him but in the mobs eyes, it just wasn't enough. This frame includes double museum-quality suede matting (our most high-end matting we offer) as well as a black wooden frame & a glass display!! In addition, it includes a laser engraved gold nameplate and custom cut "The Flamingo" matting at the top of the frame. This frame measures 23X28”