Thanks for the details, Gene!

After all I've read/seen to this point, I tend to agree that provenance leading to a Kentucky club in the middle of last century is doubtful at best. I don't think the seller was intentionally attempting to mislead or misinform, but rather that she simply didn't have a good handle on their origins herself and was going off of what someone else in her family told her (who probably also didn't know much better themselves).

As for manufacturer & the pips - my eyes, my fingers, chip wear, and other's observations (including yours) tend to point to Paulson. The fact that some chips have no pips, and those that do only have them on one side, makes me suspect that they were early production copies, and that those cups/hobs were ultimately cast away in favor of the "cleaner" pipless variety. Alternatively, maybe the pips were specifically used to indicate the chips were for home market/non-casino/illegal casino use. Pure speculation on my part, obviously. Just trying to draw logical conclusions based on a limited and questionable set of data.

None of this is going towards a valuation. They are quite worn. Plenty of mold depth still left, but worn nonetheless. I bought them for cheap, and will likely sell them for a low price as well. They sure cleaned up nicely, though!

In any case, thanks again!