At one time in Las Vegas, all slot machines used real money and not a slot machine token and casinos as well as casino patrons had to have coins that they would drop into the machine. This was before the casinos moved to a slot machine token. This was a huge expense for the casinos and when someone would hit the jackpot, they would have buckets of coins that they would be taking to the cashier to cash in. Customers could not even put bills into the machine. They had to also go to a change person to get a role of quarters or a role of nickels or even dollars.

A move to a slot machine token only solved part of the problem.

The casino slot machines evolved over time and for a while were using a slot machine token. The slot machine token was the same size and weight as a normal coin, however the slot machine token was not minted as a real coin and did not have any value outside the casino. Customers could not even go to other casinos with the the slot machine token to use them in another casinos slot machines.