Rich,

I am adding a page in my price guide to explain some of my philosophies of illegal pricing. Here are my three criteria for pricing:

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Population – The number of chips known to exist. Supply versus demand is one of the fundamental criteria for pricing any collectible. The less number of a population of a specific chip which exist, the higher the value.

Origin – The place in which a chip originates plays a large role in its future worth. Everything else being equal, a chip from an area of high collectibility (i.e. there are more people collecting that area), the more the chip is worth. For instance, presently there are more people collecting chips from Galveston, Texas, than from Wichita, Kansas. Therefor, a chip from Galveston is worth more than a chip from Wichita (given everything else being equal).

Aesthetics – The way a chip looks is also a determinate of its value. The beautiful “Crest & Seal” chips are more sought after than the plain looking “hot stamped” chips (given everything else being equal).

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There are some other factors like strength of the attribution and club history.

Hope this helps.

Ed Hertel