It would seem to me that the destruction of chips could very well lead to a higher profit for the finder of a hoard. But it would strike me as probably more profitable to simply hide them rather than publicly destroy them.

Why?

first public destruction of chips in this matter will lead to backlash and hopefully a boycott as successful as the slab free boycott would put an end to any profiteering this way.

Second by hiding the hoard one could slowly sell a few more chips especially to collectors who may not be in communication with many other collectors. Also in the event another hoard of the same chip were to be found devaluing the chip further you could probably reintroduce the hidden chips for extra profit.

Of course all this is not ethical. But you knew that.