Grading chips and slot tokens is not the same as grading coins. Coins see wear in circulation. Chips do as well, but that's not the whole story. Edge chips, nicks, and other damage due to usage needs to be described in order for buyer and seller to come to an understanding. Pictures are a great help. Tokens show evidence of use not just from wear but from being dinged up as they rattle against others and fall into the token tray.

I came to understand and accept the way The Chip Rack categorized condition in their first several issues. I'm not sure how the Club standard was created but I don't think it was by obtaining a wide consensus. I heard little about it until it was published.

I don't see the terminology from the standard used much at chip shows or at auctions. James' cut at establishing a numeric grading scale (similar to coin Mint-state numbers) was a different approach but was misleading in it's apparent high degree of resolution. I seem to recall there were MS-xx grades in early editions, then CX-xx (for chip state), and the last edition has dropped the numeric grading entirely. Club terminology is mentioned but not used in describing and valuing individual chips. It uses Average, Slightly Used, and New in defining the range of value.

Personally, I like Slight Use, Excellent, Very Good, and Good with added description on defects and wear. New always bother me as only the one who first got it at a casino knows whether it saw a table or came from a box in the cage.

The terminology "Stands on Edge" bothered me when I first encountered it, but I now agree it tells a lot in a few words; it's a good supplement to standard terms. It is not very meaningful for describing condition of antique poker chips since lots of those were made with rounded edges.

ChipChat often uses the term "rolls on edge" which I've never quite understood. Is that better or worse than "stands on edge"? I'll have to have a discussion with Doug some time.