Recently, several collectors have posted images on The Chip Board of altered brass core chips that they purchased at the Palms Chip Show. Here is a link to the thread:

http://www.thechipboard.com/cgi-bin/tcb/tcb.pl?noframes;read=570215

All of the items shown were permanently altered by the same party by taking the brass cores of chips once legitimately used in known casinos and adding various colors of filler to create chips that don’t look like any that were ever actually in play.

The resulting chips are masterfully altered and might be considered works of art by some. The party that created them is exceptionally talented in what he does. His skills and practices also extend into the area of repairing chips with drill holes, damaged inlays and other flaws, as hired by collectors to do so.

A few short years ago, the conducted an investigation into the alteration and sale of some brass core chips that were similarly altered using different colors of plastic filler. At that time, it was generally agreed among most collectors that any alteration of brass core or other types of chips was a bad thing, not only if they were initially created to deceive, but also because they could be inadvertently sold in the future as genuine by someone who didn’t know how they came to be created.

All of the collectors who posted images of their Palms Chip Show purchases are well-known and respected. Several of them have been outstanding contributors to the hobby, donating countless hours and dollars towards the betterment and protection of chip collecting. I have no doubts about their integrity or devotion to the hobby. However, I do think we need to examine what is happening, ask each other some difficult questions and come to some consensus of opinion about what is good for the hobby and what is not.

Several things come to mind that don’t sit right with me, and I post these here in the interest of furthering the discussion:

1. Why is it acceptable for some collectors to own these items and not others? The argument will undoubtedly be made that some purchase them to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands or to educate those of us who haven’t been exposed to them firsthand. If that is the case, why not document them with photographs or scans and then destroy them and document the destruction?

2. Why is a brass core chip altered with wild colors or metal-flake plastics that were never used by any casino any less dangerous than any other altered chip? They still look like a chip issued by the casino the slug comes from. Sure, you and I know that they’re not legitimate chips, but what about the collector who doesn’t read the Chip Board or have access to the club’s fakes and fantasies page? What happens to these chips in 20 or 30 years when they have passed from collector to collector until the story of their alteration is lost?

3. Some will argue that these really aren’t considered chips anymore since they have been altered so drastically—that they are now only novelty items that they wish to have in their private collection—never to be sold or traded. Couldn’t the same argument be used for the repair of a chip that is not known to exist in undrilled or uncancelled condition? Couldn’t the same argument be used for any rare chip repaired, or with its cross-hatching “freshened” by the same skilled artisan?

4. Why is it considered okay for a club member to do business with a party in purchasing one of these altered chips at a non-club chip show when the will not even allow the same party anywhere near the showroom at the annual convention?

5. In purchasing these altered chips from the party that created them, are you not supporting and encouraging the act of producing them? And, are you not also providing an economic incentive for this party to continue doing alterations and repairs on chips?

6. While all of the chips shown on the Chip Board look spectacular and are true works of art, isn’t it up to us as collectors to take a stand and refuse to own ANY altered chip even if it means not feeling the pride of ownership? There were some beautiful red and black Four Queens pai gow chips created a few years ago that I would love to own, but the story of their creation and distribution has tainted them to the extent that I would never consider buying them, because in doing so I could be seen as condoning the circumstances under which they were created. It seems a little hypocritical for collectors to talk about how bad altered or repaired chips are and then turn around and purchase one, even if it’s only for the novelty of owning it “as a piece of chip-collecting history”.

I’m sure there are other issues I’ve missed, but I think these deserve to be considered and discussed.