Gene. Archie sent them an email which Travis has forwarded to the Casino Listserv (hope Archie doesn't mind if I reproduce it here):

>> Gentlemen;

>> It has been brought to my attention that a sample of a "slabbed chip" was on
>> display at a recent coin show held at Tropicana recently. I want to assure
>> you that I will fight this attempt at corrupting our hobby with the abuses
>> that have permeated the coin hobby for many years regarding slabbing.

>> As a past President of several coin clubs in New Jersey, Past President of
>> the Garden State Numismatic Association, past ANA District Rep for the state
>> of New Jersey and the Immediate Past President of the Casino Chips & Gaming
>> Tokens Collectors Club for eleven years, I urge you not to take this
>> unwarranted step that will ultimately destroy what is now a fine hobby. Our
>> chip hobby does not need independent grading persons to tell us whether our
>> chips are uncirculated, or not. We do not need the wide separations of
>> values associated with each minor progression of "grades" such as exists in
>> the coin hobby. Leave the speculation to the coin hobby. Our clean hobby
>> is not the laboratory to experiment in. Maybe you might want to try
>> matchbooks instead.

>> Regards, Archie A. Black

Following up on Archie's email, I sent the following:

>> Gentlemen:

>> I have become aware, through posts on The ChipBoard, of your
>> initial efforts at "slabbing" casino chips.

>> It is my belief that slabbing of chips will be detrimental
>> to the chip collecting hobby. I am one of three candidates
>> for president of the Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors
>> Club for the 2001-2003 term. If elected, I will do
>> everything possible in that office to prevent the spread of
>> chip slabbing. On a personal basis, I will do the same
>> whether elected or not.

>> I am a former collector of both coins and trading cards.
>> Slabbing of coins and cards has done much to ruin those
>> hobbies for the average collector. Nothing good will come
>> of this effort. If you persist in attempting to establish a
>> chip slabbing business, do so knowing that I and many other
>> prominent chip collectors will NOT buy slabbed chips and
>> will do everything possible to dissuade others from doing so
>> as well.

>> If you care to join the ChipBoard discussion of this issue,
>> you can visit the board generally at:

>> http://www.thechipboard.com/cgi-bin/tcb/config.pl

>> Or, you can go directly to the primary thread on this subject at:

>> http://www.thechipboard.com/cgi-bin/tcb/config.pl?read=105130

>> Sincerely,

>> JAMES T. REILLY
>> Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club Member #R3606

The email address to contact ICG is:

customersatisfaction@icgcoin.com

They also have a bulletin board at:

http://www.coinclub.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html

Perhaps if we all go there and post messages stating our
opposition to the slabbing of chips, they'll reconsider.

I have already posted a message, which is at:

http://www.coinclub.com/wwwboard/messages/10643.html

Anyone who'd care to add to that thread is certainly welcome (at least as far as I'm concerned) to do so.

----- jim o\-S