Pete,

I cannot agree more. Last week in a hotel room in Las Vegas, a friend of mine who came from southern California handed me hundreds of $1 chips from the area.

I went through them to count so I can reimbursed him then he saw one chip from Barona casino pick it up and trash it. I took it out from the trash included it in the count.

It is here infront of me since I came home, the lone chip sitting alone and lonely by himself and I cannot make up my mind what to do with it. I am still sipping through in my mind feeling guilty of not counting it as one of my 5 $1 chips collection. The chip has no inlay at all, totally blank although it has every features like the rest of them but it becomes so unique to itself and so distinctive fromt he others. I pick it up very so often to wonder what happened to it. I got five varieties of the Barona $1 chip this particular one has the the four suits and two eagles on the on the outer ring.

Peter you would not believe me I think if I tell you because of your response and I was writing this I stop for a while took the chip and examined it with the manifying glass - look what I found instead of having only four varities of the Barona casino now I have five. "Five" was retype at first I wrote "four". there are five types in my collection including the 'lone chip'. Without your comments I would have simply rest the case on the Barona chips. Put them away except the lone chip. You made me look again this morning. You are godsend. I owe you a million thanks for the glow of insights about the burned chip.

I never intended to throw this chip away, but I almost pack them up with one hundred other chips to a totally new collector. I pulled it again. "Shame on you Leonidas giving away what you don't want". I was telling myself then. This girl wrote to me that she wants to start collecting and that she has not even a single chip yet. So I sent her those chips as a gift to start with. Can you imagine her joy when she got the chip in the mail. she told me she started run from the house in Indiana towards New Jersey non stop to tell me how she felt and to share her joy. Total stranger. I don't even know her. She wrote me once. I don't even know if she is R, but it did not matter to me. I feel very good inside that I made somebody happy and on the road to chipping. Last night she wrote me that she will go all the way to any casino to get me what I don't have. I told her don't do that. Don't be carried away with your emotion? Don't ever mortgage your family or house or cat or anything. I told her take your time.

So Peter for this "rambling" (quote from Katie Smith)

Leonidas

This chip is playing with me so to speak.