I’ve had this chip in my collection for a while and want to make a public confession about my treatment of it. I recognize that what I did to this chip was wrong and want it on record what happened to it in case there is ever any doubt in the future.

This has been bothering me every time I see this chip, and I’ve either got to come clean or throw the damn thing away. I’m looking for serious advice on what to do with it.

I received this chip a couple of years ago. I can’t remember exactly how, but I probably bought it on eBay. I probably got it cheap because I don’t pay much for my chips. The chip is a $5 Arodie from Colony Club in Reno, which has a TCR value of “Q”.
Now, “Q” chips, booking for $200-$249 are WAY out of my price range. Since I got the chip so cheap, I figured the reason was that it was covered in green paint.

Here’s how it looked at the beginning of this saga:

I posted a question here about the green paint on the chip and was told that several examples of the painted chips had shown up. So, I figured that the “Q” value applied only to unpainted chips.

At some point after I received the chip, I decided that since this was a worthless example of this particular chip I would see how difficult it would be to remove the green paint. I can’t remember what I used, but I was able to remove most of the paint without much trouble. But, at some point during the process, my conscience got the best of me and I stopped working to remove the paint. I put it away and have avoided looking at it since.

A week or two ago, I saw another of these painted chips selling on eBay, along with the story that ALL of the examples of this chip found had been in painted condition.

This sent me to James Campiglia’s Official U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide for verification. Sure enough, there it was with values ranging from $500 to $1,000 and the notation “There are exactly 12 known pieces – all of which have been painted green by the former owners.”
(I have to note here that I contacted James Campiglia a few days ago to ask if he had any interest in the chip, but I was not honest enough with him to admit that I was the person who had tried to remove the paint.)

So, I’ve got this apparently rare chip in my collection that has been altered just as well as if it had been a drilled chip with a hole filled in.

And, I feel crappy about it.

What should I do? Destroy it? Have it permanently encased in lucite so nobody gets hold of it and removes the remaining green paint?

Here’s the chip after my “work”.