For starters, I don't think these chips were faked to fool the casino and the mob. Putting a $1 inlay on a $100 chip completely defeats that purpose. I assumed they were faked for the collectors a lot more recently.

Your explanations could be true (I really have no idea and I have ZERO skin in this game) however...

Having a backup set where the $1 denomination is EXACTLY like the old set's $100 is totally reckless and I can't believe they would do that. In my experience (and again, I could be proven wrong) most backup sets have their own unique colors and inserts. Can you imagine the chaos this would cause if one day the black chips are $100 and the next day $1? Hard to imagine.

And the idea that the club would open up with cheap decal chips to their VIPs seems a little hard to swallow. Wouldn't they be the people they are trying to impress? Putting out substandard, one-sided chips seems like something Lansky would try to avoid.

And Luis, please don't take this is a shot at you. Your explanations could be 100% legit, but to me is seems a little counterintuitive. I don't actively collect Cuban chips, but I have heard there is sort of a cottage industry of making chips for tourists on the island.