Q: I think this is a gaming box, but I’m wondering what kind. The chips are Bakelite. It was owned by Countess De Bury of Quebec and is marked “Henry Boker, Germany.” A scoring slide rule is mounted inside the lid. The box is 11 inches long by 8 inches wide by 4 1/2 inches deep. What kind of game is it and how old is it?
A: Your gaming box is a mystery. Can any of our readers help? The removable strips that hold the discs or chips are marked with the numbers “10, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000.” They fit into the bottom of the box with the spindles protruding through the holes in the movable wooden boards inside the box. The score sheet on the box lid has numbers ranging from 10 to 100. Printed on the sheet’s side are the words “De Bury, Artillery Park.” Count and Countess De Bury lived in Artillery Park, a Quebec defensive site built by the French in the 17th and 18th centuries. Count Henry Robert Visart de Bury was a member of the Royal Regiment of Artillery and later joined the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps. He was superintendent of the Dominion Arsenal in Quebec from 1920 to 1936. Henry Boker was a German ironmonger. He made cutlery and tools, many of which were exported to the United States. Could the hole through the top right number 100 on the score sheet be a bullet hole? Maybe the box was used to help keep score in a shooting match.
Hi, I believe this to be part of a Mah Jong game probably made in the 40s. The chips are bakelite or catalin and used to score the game points of 10,100,1000 et al. It was not unusual during this time period for individuals, companies, etc. to create their own scoring systems and rules.
Could it be part of a majhong game. I have one similar by it has majhong tiles.