... and this is just a general discussion of the issue, motivated by but not particularly related to the my brass core inquiry.

Some examples:

1 -- If I have a Paul-Son or Chipco chip from a live casino and accidentally break it, then glue it back together, is it a "counterfeit"? If the chip gets heat-warped and I flatten it, does that make it a "counterfeit". In either case, am I breaking some law by taking it to the casino and turning it in (or using it in a game)?

2 -- If I have a Bud Jones coin inlay chip from a live casino and one or both of the inlays pop out, is it a "counterfeit" if I glue the inlay(s) back in? Am I breaking some law by taking it to the casino and redeeming it?

3 -- In either of the foregoing cases, if I can repair the chip in such a way that it cannot be seen that it was damaged, am I doing something wrong if I sell it to another collector, telling that collector, "It was broken. I fixed it." And explain the circumstances. Is this a violation of our club's code of ethics?

4 -- Let's say I picked up a current brass core from a Nevada casino (don't think there are any anymore, but suppose I did this when they were available). I take the chip home and as an experiment, melt off part of the plastic (just so I can see the core). Then I take some new plastic and melt it into the spot I damaged. Is this a "counterfeit"? If I then took it to the casino and turned it in, would I be committing some kind of fraud?

5 -- Let's say during my experiment in #4, I'm a screw up and accidentally melt off all of the plastic. If I then replace all of it, is that a "counterfeit"? If I take it back to the casino, am I doing something wrong?

6 -- One step further again in either 4 or 5. If I sell the chip to another collector and say, "I melted some (or all) of the plastic and replaced it," does that make this a "counterfeit"? Am I committing some kind of fraud? Is this a violation of the club's code of ethics? Is the answer to this question different if I don't get the color exactly right when I replace it? Or if I intentionally replace it with a different color, but still tell the person to whom I sold it what happened and what I did to fix it?

7 -- And yet another step. After I sold to another collector, with complete disclosure, any of the chips described above, that collector sells it to a third person without my knowledge and without disclosing the damage and/or repair. Does that now make it a "counterfeit"? Has this person done something wrong? If so, does that mean I have now also done something wrong? Am I in violation of the club's code of ethics?

I'm not 100% sure of Nevada law on some of these questions, but I have a pretty good idea what I think the result would be under our code of ethics.

----- jim o\-S