I was pleasantly surprised to be able to pick up a few chips from this auction at reasonable prices. The overall results are likely attributed to auction subscribers saving some of their chip collecting budgets for the convention in June. I know it was a factor in my bidding.

Besides the lots unsold at reserve, there were a number of lots that realized final bids below the estimated range in the catalog. I interpret this as an increasing independence of bidders' opinions in determining what they're willing to offer for chips in this auction. (I'll confess that I suggested to Howdy that he update his 1995 book valuations with more recent values for Nevada chips. Now that updated values are shown, maybe certain types of chips are peaking or leveling-off in value.)

The premier and truly rare items seem to hold value, while the next few tiers of obsolete/scarce chips are showing a greater variability of prices realized. The large number of other auctions and sales going on may affect bid levels, too.

I still enjoy all of Howdy's auctions, because of the educational value about the chips shown. Whether the results of this one auction represent a trend or just normal variations in auction results remains to be seen.