TED BINION AND THE BINION SILVER DOLLAR HOARD

On display in your Vanishing Texana Museum is a 1884 Morgan silver dollar, part of a poker collection on loan from Mr. Frank Graham of Tyler, TX. The coin is encapsulated in a plastic holder with a unique white and green label. The holder and label were provided by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, the world's largest and most trusted third-party coin grading service, as part of their contract to authenticate the coin as part of the "Binion Hoard." So, what is the Binion Hoard and how did a part of it end up in our museum? This coin's heritage begins in Dallas, TX and involves drugs, love, greed, betrayal, and murder all with the background of Las Vegas, NV.

A man named Benny Binion became part of the Dallas gambling and racketeering world in Dallas starting in 1924. In 1946, the Dallas City Attorney vowed to send Benny to jail for his crimes, so Benny packed up two million dollars in cash and relocated to Las Vegas where he purchased two casinos. He combined them into a new business called Binion's Horseshoe Casino. His youngest son, Ted, worked odd jobs at the casino and earned a reputation for his knowledge of the gambling industry and casino operations.While growing up around casinos, Ted developed an "appreciation" for coins, especially silver dollars. According to the April, 2002 edition of "The Numismatist", Ted believed a dollar bill was merely questionable paper promise printed by politicians. Silver, he believed, had proven its value is real currency since Biblical times (for examples see the ancient coin exhibit in the museum) and could be relied upon to keep its value.

He especially loved the Morgan and Peace silver dollars which he stored in a special vault at the Horseshoe Casino. Ted' s fondness for young women also continued and soon he meets Sandy Murphy. Sandy Murphy was a local Southern California girl looking for a change when she emptied her bank account and headed for Las Vegas. What happened to Murphy in Nevada is classic Vegas noir. She lost all her money, took a job stripping and modeling lingerie, and met casino owner Ted Binion when she was modeling a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader outfit. Murphy moves into Ted's 8500 square foot home complete with a Mercedes sports car and a credit card with a $10,000 limit.

Along with money and fast women, Ted also became addicted to drugs. It was the drugs and some financial irregularities at his casino that led the Nevada State Gaming Commission to suspend his gambling license. Ted was forced to sell his beloved Horseshoe and had to move his silver coin hoard out of the casino. He decided to build a large underground vault on an undeveloped piece of property he owned in near Pahrump, Nevada.

To read the complete article, see:
Mysteries at your Museum: Love, greed and betrayal (http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/opinion/mysteries-at-your-museum-love-greed-and-betrayal/article_e932676a-9768-11e8-9bfa-5b63b8b6f5f9.html)

For more information on the Vanishing Texana Museum, see:
Vanishing Texana Museum (https://vtmjacksonville.org/)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
BINION SILVER DOLLAR CASE CONTINUES (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v08n21a02.html)
VERDICT IN BINION CASINO MURDER CASE (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v13n05a16.html)

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