I'll preface my remarks by saying I"ve never bought or sold a slabbed chip. However, I think we need to remember that it's not the slabbing service that will drive the price of chips up, it is "deep pocket" collectors.

If the hobby grows, there will be fewer and fewer obsolete chips to go around. If we get a number of new collectors with millions of dollars to spend on chips, the prices will skyrocket for rarer chips. If these new, wealthy, collectors want their chips slabbed and are willing to pay big bucks for it, it'll happen. We can't control the forces of the market.

Look at it this way. Ten years from now a collector posts he is looking for a chip you have and are eager to sell. He's willing to pay $50,000 for it if it is slabbed and in a certain condition. You believe your chip is in the condition the buyer seeks. You can get $3,000 for it now without slabbing. How many of you would refuse to send your chip off to a slabbing service?