I've gotten some great responses from some very nice people at this website.

It may have been the way the chip scanned, but the hot stamping on my alleged Silver Slipper chip is in no way damaged. As Allan described, the hot stamp color is definitely in the brass color family. There is soiling around the outer edge of the chip (the part where a coin would be ridged) but otherwise the chip looks brand new. The dirt, like the other gentleman said, could be from "rattling around in a drawer." I can easily read the four diamond suited hands and the dots on the dice are very sharp.

So I either have a genuine Silver Slipper chip or a genuine Borland fake. Either way, this chip now has a story behind it, one without ending, but a story nevertheless...

A sincere thank you to all of you who took the time and trouble to respond.