Actually, the example shown is not a "slabbed chip". It is a complimentary sample of what "services" a slabbing company provides and an example of what a slabbed chip would look like.

These free samples were distributed at a club convention a few years ago from the slabbing company's booth right on the CC & GTCC convention floor. A truly "slabbed chip" would have the grade of the chip indicated on the identification label ... which is what slabbing alegedly was all about.

Fortunately, the anti-slab movement overwhelmingly drove the slabbers out of our hobby when it became clear that they were interested in one thing and one thing only ... to charge for their "expert" opinon on grading (for a fee) and then encapsulating their opinion in plastic ... thereby driving up the price of chips in general to the collector ... much like the abuses that took place in the baseball card industry.

Literally hundreds of chip collectors would be required to submit thousands of their chips to the "grading service" in order to make their questionably needed product profitable (for them). These companies do not sell chips, they do not buy chips. They depend upon the unknowledgeable chipper, or investor, to send their material to them (for a fee) for their "3rd party" opinion ... for which the chipper/investor paid for. The rub is, that no one knew the qualifications or the identity of those who were doing the grading.

I know; this post is a re-hash of old-hat news to most experienced chippers. But there are many new-comers to this message board who have not experienced the hard lessons learned throughout that painful ordeal in our club's short history.