My opinion is that a low mintage chip automatically triggers greed, hoarding and speculation by those few that think they are going to get rich.
A day or so after the release of the chip, several found their way to ebay with prices ranging from $7.93 to 9.99 and yet a day later, there were no buyers.

Wonder what it would be like if there were no mintage quantities given out before the release?
Now there is something to think about.

You mentioned the low mintage July 4th chip.
I have seen that chip sell for as much as $300 and yet as all the furor died down, one recently sold for $100.
I think most of you will remember the same situation with the Will Espin [ Trop $5 chip]
as well as with the Trump Castle Royal Flush series.

It would NOT surprise me if over a period of time some of the Rock the Vote chips find their way back to the cage when people discover that they won't make the killing they anticipated.

Ever wonder why there are few if any A/C LE's that command a premium? I think the reason is oversupply.

A question I might ask is....
How many is enough? The answer is, there is NO answer. While NIS benefit on every new release [ please understand I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH PROFIT.] They are usually the ones that complain about issue sizes when they can not satisfy their customers. So answering my own question of how many is enough, the answer is when everyone's needs are satisfied.

I actually think it's healthy for there to be some chips that command a premium but that depends if one is at the collector end or the business end of chip collecting.
While I am fortunate to have someone pick up my chips for me, I also have no problem paying a premium on chips when this is not possible.
I look at this from the view of a collector. I neither run a NIS nor do I sell on ebay. I have no problem with those that do and perhaps that is why my opinion differs from others.