I agree that rare chips a worth a lot to a collector, Archie. My comment was on two aspects of the chip in the auction:

The Fremont is a more recent chip and I'm not sure it true rarity is known.

A hot-stamp chip on a common mold is not hard to duplicate today by a counterfeiter. All it takes is a chip that lots of colectors want (usually Nevada, usually Las Vegas) and a high enough offer price. Stamping dies can be made today by either etching or metal deposition and blank chips are not hard to find in many colors. A hot die, a strip of gold embossing foil, and you have a $1200 chip (or a dozen of them). Slip them into the stream of collectibles one at a time and you have made $10,000 plus.

Although similar arguments could be made about counterfeiting inlaid chips, it's harder to do. The removal of chip material and proper attachment of a fake inlay after the chip is molded is very difficult and can almost always be detected by visual exam, and maybe by UV light examination. For example the Fremont $25 hub mold chip that was counterfeited years ago to fool the casino. Most collectors can easily detect the replaced inlay.

Each buyer must place his own value on an old chip. Some don't care much if it's a proven rarity as long as it is cataloged as rare and expensive, hoping eventually to be able to recover their investment by resale. I think it's prudent to look at the probablilities when bidding on any any chip in the thousand and up range.