Brass core chips were being 'remanufactured'. I knew that one of the main culprits was from Pahrump, apparently others were also from Pahrump.

As I recall, they had discovered a way to remove the plastic from brass core chips then they would re-cover the chip with a new plastic coating. They also used some new, blank brass cores. Damaged chips were 'new' again, chips were re-cast in new colors so they became 'unique' new finds, etc. Their activity played havoc with the brass core market (to say the least ).

Here's the information from the club's website:
http://www.ccgtcc.com/brass_core.html