I remember this was probably the second $20 chip that I collected-- I was fairly new to the business of paying more than $10 or so for any chip, so hesitated even putting a bid on it. However, I really liked the look of it (it's still one of my favourites-- I like the bold colours and rendering of the marquis), and in the first days of the eBay auction there hadn't been a lot of bids. I decided to put in a 'lowball' bid of 2X face, and hope for the best (which, considering its TCR 'S' value, I thought would be very lucky indeed). When I won it, I felt incredibly clever, and remember showing it to members of my family, along with the entry in The Chip Rack, thereby demonstrating what an astute collector I was . It was a lesson to me that sometimes on eBay you can really score a good deal.

Of course, in the several years since winning this chip, I've probably seen it come up for sale half a dozen times or so on eBay, and almost without exception it has sold for within $10-$15 of what I paid. As a consequence I learned the even more important chip collecting lesson with this chip: the price guide is just that, a guide; and with any given chip there can be a disconnect between what the book says it's worth, and what people are willing to pay for it.

Brent J. Jensen
R-8007
orbis non sufficit