Jim; The only way the slabbing of chips will become popular in our hobby is if the COLLECTORS demand this service. The grading problems that arose in the coin industry were because many folks who purchased overgraded expensive coins, who were not familiar with how to grade coins, got snookered. So they turned to 3rd-party grading systems who employed "experts" to grade and slab the coins for them. Even this was not a solution, as coins came back graded as one grade from one grading company, which were then re-submitted to another grading company (or sometimes even the same grading company) and came back graded at a higher grade (translated higher value).

My point is; until chip collectors begin demanding this service... in my opinion it will never happen. Which is exactly why I am opposed to a grading system in this hobby. I note in one popular reference book that does grade chips, that for each increase in grade the corresponding price goes up 50% for each increment. That my friends is how it all begins. I've issued this warning in the past, and nothing has changed since then. Don't buy into the "investment" pitch .... that the higher grades are worth 150% more than a chip that has been in play. Enjoy your hobby the way it is and resist the slab scam.