Don; The flaw in your logic is that the same conditions do not apply to every casino.

For example; The cage people in A.C. have never seen some of the older LE chips I'm presenting for redemption before and will have to get approval from the cage supervisor before my chip can be redeemed for cash. After the chip is presented for redemption at the cage, the cage will not send it out again in most cases... even if you are standing behind me when I cash it in, the cage will not re-sell it to you in most casinos in A.C. If I try to play my LE chip on a table, the dealer can refuse it and tell me to go to the cage and redeem it... or sometimes a dealer will replace my bet chip with a regular table chip and put my LE chip in the back of the rack so it does not get put into play again. However, sometimes if I spot an unusual chip in the back of the dealer's rack and ask for it ... I stand a 50/50 chance of getting it depending upon the individual dealer, but in all probablility I will not be permitted to play it.

To me ... the chip is obsolete... but redeemable. No different than the example I gave in the old "obsolete" thread about auto parts. I go to my auto dealer and ask for a part for an old clunker and I'm told that it's obsolete and not in stock anymore. Maybe he can order one, maybe he can't. Maybe I find the "obsolete" part at another auto dealer who just happens to have one sitting on the shelf for several years. Just because I happened to be able to find one from another auto parts counter does not mean that the part isn't "obsolete".