The 1995 film "Casino" is about a fictional Mafia-run Las Vegas Nevada gambling casino from roughly 1972 to 1981. The story is loosely based on a real casino. The Chicago Mafia sends a man to run the fictional Tangiers Casino. He encounters many problems, some stemming from his wife and some from his violent friends and associates. Nevada gambling casinos during the period used coins for play and there are several scenes of coin counting machines and coin rolling machines along with some coins including Eisenhower dollars.

Sam Rothstein (Robert De Niro) narrates the story. He has worked in gambling enterprises for a long time and is picked by the Chicago Mafia to run it's Las Vegas Tangiers Casino. Another mobster, Nicky Santoro, an old associate of Sam's, is sent to assist him. Nicky is a violent man.

The casino is located on the Las Vegas Strip, the main casino street of the city.

The casino runs day and night and is always lit up. The casino count room is where the casino money is stored and some employees work there to remove the Mafia's share of the money before it can be counted as casino income. This practice is called "skimming." There is also an office where coins are counted and bagged or rolled.

Eisenhower dollars are shown in coin rolls. These were minted from 1971 to 1978 specifically for the Nevada casinos when the silver dollars that they were using went out of circulation due to the increase in the price of silver. The mints used same copper-nickel clad alloy which the other post 1964 formerly silver coins were made from.

The coin rolls are ready for use in slot machines.

An employee pours coins, probably quarters, into a bin.

Coins are lined up.

An employee removes a bunch of coin rolls.

The paper currency needs to be counted also. These are real US currency notes. The US Treasury regulation which prohibited the showing of US currency in films was repealed in 1960.

Nicky Santoro, Sam Rothstein, and his girlfriend Ginger McKenna. Ginger has been a Las Vegas hustler for a long time. Part of Sam's responsibility is dealing with customers who attempt to cheat the casino.

The casino security is rather rough on cheaters. Sam convinces Ginger to marry him and a lavish wedding is held.

A casino employee, Don Ward, wears the old-fashioned "Wild West" attire.

The tie clip is composed of the old US Indian Head or Buffalo nickels. Nicky Santoro brings some friends to Las Vegas and begin staging robberies. He has a network of people who spot targets for him.

The secretary telephones a man and lets him know where there are some "mint condition coins." Ginger has hooked up with an old boyfriend and has become a cocaine addict causing problems for Sam which become worse when she begins an affair with Nicky. Sam's problems cause him to have the businessman's complaint of ulcers.

The Chicago Mafia does not like the publicity and eliminates some problems.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been watching the casino operations and stages a raid on the casino.

The Mafia deals with Nicky and his associate.

Sam's wife Ginger dies, possibly murdered. Sam says "in the end, all she had left was $3,600 in mint condition coins." Sam survives a car bombing and has to leave Las Vegas. He goes back to his old job.

Sam complains about the modern casinos being built in Las Vegas and financed by "junk bonds."

Robert De Niro as Sam Rothstein
Joe Pesci as Nicky Santoro
Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna
John Bloom as Don Ward
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese
Based on the 1995 book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi