Same here. Dont be too greedy. Ask the pit nicely if you can buy 4 x 25c or 4 x 50c and you will usually be okay. Ask for a stack and they will send you to the cage. The cage tells you to go back to the tables. The pit staff ignore you second time round. You get no chips. Ive had small places where I had to play just to get $5's.

Southern CA was a contrast though. They are obviously used to collectors and will go through to find the best chips for you. I had no problem getting a rack each of fractionals and $1's and a stack or 2 each value up to $5 direct from the cage or poker rooms. A couple of places even had uncirc ones held back for collectors.