I agree, Andy. Simply because unscrupulous people misuse a word does not make us unscrupulous for knowing what it means and using it correctly. Unscrupulous people will misuse every word we have.

If a casino does not use a chip, and would not sell that chip to a customer if they had one, that chip is obsolete at the moment. It matters not whether they will give a customer face value for one when asked to. It matters not whether boxes and boxes are locked away in the vault. It probably matters not if a friend of the owner was able to shake one loose for his collection so long as John Q. Public can't get one.

It's all based on the attitude of the issuing casino towards the chip at the moment. If the casino does not use the chip in any way, has no intention to ever use the chip again, and makes them unavailable, they are obsolete. Today. With some chips, it's quite clear what the casino's intention is. With some, it's not. Which is why we should always try to err on the side of caution.

Of course, here's an example of how unscrupulous people misuse the concept. Harrah's Tahoe has exactly the above attitude towards this wonderful brass core dollar. Some people use that to claim it's obsolete (at that casino). But the chip is far from obsolete because Harrah's Reno still uses them on the craps table.