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The mistake American Ivory turners (cavers) made ~

~~~ for as long as they were turning out Ivory gambling chips; and never correcting that error on any chip (that I have noticed), was to place the ring(s) in the same exact location on both side of the chip creating a weak spot anywhere along that circumference when tossed about on the tables. Why they didn't correct the problem, I do not know, though I have been shown ringed examples from England, Italy and India where the ring(s) were placed in different distances from the edge in both the obverse/reverse... Just another reason to examine Ivory chips by holding them up to bright light and study the area where light passes through, while at the same time examining closely looking for where fillers may have been used to plug (fill in) such areas.

The chip seen below has such a fracture directly in the inner ring and inside of the inner ring on the other side... at an angle I do not know why, though possible due to the positioning of the chip at impact. I was told of this problem many years ago by Dr. Kenny Craig, who co-wrote with Dale Seymour in their articles.

Now for the sales pitch; I have sold several of these fractured chips both in person and sight unseen, via phone... during our convention and at F.U.N. in Orlando. Each buyer, since day one, has paid $400 for the fractured chip and $600 for the problem-free examples. The piece you see here is for sale at the same level; $400, and I have two remaining examples (fractured)... and one without any fracture for $600. I am also open to any proposals in balance for Mother-of-Pearl.


Copyright 2022 David Spragg