at the Conventions and Chip Shows - both individual chips (I bought a couple) and in stacks of melted goop. I think Mike Spinetti had some. So they are a curiosity but not particularly rare. I have NOT however run across a melted 5/25 combo (which WOULD be rare). Maybe I walked past those, concealed (or should I say congealed) in those stacks? Phil's post explains at least how the current supply of them would exist. I'm assuming that - ahem - "liberating" burned chips from a bungalow on the property was trespassing, theft and violated 10,000 Nevada Gaming Commission regulations but I'm not the Village Cop (Bert's the Cop, Ernie's the cabdriver).

A remaining mystery is whether the El Rancho knew of the error and how they stored error chips culled from the total order - maybe they were all held in the vault in one box, awaiting - what? Return to the manufacturer? Turnover to the Gaming Commission?