I've received a few e-mails and phone calls regarding the ivory fakes that walked in the convention this year. Though most ivory collectors know the source of this material and are able to detect them quite easilly, it's about impossible for me (and other ivory collectors) to explain what this material looks like and how to detect it, as there are well over 125 to 150 different fake or recent creation chips known to exist, currently. The only suggestion I can make regarding anyone wishing to familiarize with these types of chips is to refer to Dale Seymour's "Antique Gambling Chips" - Revised Edition.

Dale's next article in our club magazine will give chip collectors a pretty good idea of how to detect ivory poker chips, in general, by showing the striation (grain) pattern seen on the surface and within the chip.

JB