There are probably better solutions than this.
I have a modestly sized collection - about 500 chips.
I keep track of it on my Microsoft PC using Excel as a database.
I copy that Excel database to my iPhone using ReaddleDocs (Free App)
I can then view my excel database on my iPhone using pinch and spread to enlarge the cells I might be interested looking at.
I do not update any info on my iPhone, that's all done on my PC - the iPhone is just a viewer of that database in this case.
As for images, I have all my chips separately scanned on my PC. I copy the folder they're in to the built-in iPhone Photos App thru an iTunes Sync.
This is the best part of my iPhone usage for my chip collection - the ability to see them clearly on my iPhone or show any particular chip to someone else in great detail using spread and pinch.

The following gets a little more technical.
There was (is) a way to have the images of my chips linked to my spreadsheet database. This is a little obscure capability within excel. When implemented and working, it was great. If I hovered over a particular cell, the chip image would magically appear to the side. If you or anyone wants to know how to do this, email me.

The problem was that during an automatic update by Microsoft, this capability disappeared (the regular data in the database remained okay - just the links to my images disappeared). This happened to my backup copies too.
I was distraught, but spent the time to relink the images only for it to happen again several months later. So implementing this obscure capability to view your chips the way I did, should be implemented with the knowledge that this could happen to you too.

Additionally, this capability of viewing the chip images within Excel, was not available on the excel database that was copied over to the iPhone with ReaddleDocs.

All in all, I like having all my chips visible to be on my iPhone and I like having access to a copy of my excel database in my pocket whenever I need it.