At one time, it was common for alot of the "veterans" (vs. old-timers) to collect everything in the way of chips. That is not economically possible in today's collecting climate which is the reason I've been selling off most of my foreign chips on ebay. I was happy with the prices I got from newer collectors ... mostly from the other side of the pond.... and they were happy to obtain them to place into their collections ... and the hobby has not been diminished one bit.

It's simply a matter of new "custodians" being put in charge of preserving the older chips until the day arrives when they will make them available to newer collectors/custodians.

You see, we never really OWN our chips ... we just maintain them for awhile for someone else to enjoy later in their lifetime.

Many of the chips in my personal collection were obtained from collector friends who are no longer living on this planet. Hopefully, when the day arrives for me to check out of this world, someone else will enjoy what I've been holding for them.