Bob,
(1) I think it is very important for the national to get dues from chapter members, and I am the sure the Board of the national will come up with a reasonable way to do this, perhaps a way that would make the life of your chapter easier. Perhaps the national could collect the dues for the chapter and national together and remit chapter dues to the chapter.

(2) Even if some of your members collect "merely" local gambling chips and tokens, the national does them a lot of good, I would hope and suspect. For example, if the national encourages growth of the hobby in general, that increases the value of all our collections. With national prestige, clout and publicity, neighbors of yours might join the national, never having heard of your local group, but then joining it after looking through the membership rosters and national club magazine articles. Off hand, another way the national can help even small groups is by working on the Hobby Protection Act to thwart reproductions. Maybe a little group of collectors will expand their horizons reading the same magazine, or attract those from other parts of the country with similar interests. So there is much value in the national for all gambling chip collectors.

(3) No one is out for blood. I would hope all of us are sympathetic. If some collectors were old an/or poor, no one would be bothered by your chapter rendering them special treatment, like both chapter and national not collecting dues from them. Bylaws could be changed or, better yet, a "don't ask, don't tell" policy is fine. This is a small matter. Don't let the tail wag the dog.

(4) Others have commented on the ANA thing, so I needn't beat it to death. We are not coin collectors, have nothing to do with it, don't advertise ourselves as being connected to the ANA, were not created by the ANA to follow ANA principles, etc. We don't call the national (CCGTCC) a chapter of the ANA.

Robt.