Rich, my comments were not aimed at your paticular chip and neither is the following comments.
BUT
"But what if there were no Mason records? Would you still be telling Kevin all the reasons why his chips couldn't be from the Merchants?"

Yes, I would still be saying prove it.
I can show you a dozen UFC's with MC on them.
I think I just proved one of them went to Joplin, MO but was used in Tulsa, OK.
IMO, UFC's are proven or they are UFC's. It irritates the heck out of me to see "attributed to" in one of our guide books. That more than likely means it is not proven but someone is selling them for profit.

"Remember, just because you haven't seen it or it doesn't fit into your concept of what chips from a particular club should look like doesn't the chips aren't legitmate."

I agree, but still say prove it.

"The lady in question with respect to the BH is 79. I admit the numbers don't fit."
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

"However I know of a 70 year c&s that can still be found in the club to this day. Only a couple of employees know where they are. Chips sometimes do survive."

I agree. Found in the actual club could very well be construed as proof.