Help, I need to learn.

While in Las Vegas for the Convention, I met a guy (independent of the Convention) that quickly figured out that I collect chips. (Must have been the club shirt I was wearing, go figure.) Anyway, this guy told me that he had some purple, 50¢ Horseshoe chips with a swirling dice pattern around the edge, and what would they be worth? I asked him how many he had? He wanted to know why, and I told him that if he had hundreds of them ("like two boxes") then the value will likely be less. If he had a few (like 10) then their value might remain higher. I believe that he has less than 100 but at least twenty. After looking it up in the two guides, I told him that they could be worth between 30 and 40 dollars each, depending on condition. He immediately asked if I would be willing to buy 10 of them at the $40 price, and that the condition was "excellent" as they had never been used. I told him I could not (cash flow), but that I would be back in town in two weeks and would re-contact him.

My question is this…What now? I would be pleased to get any comments or feedback from others that have stumbled across similar situations. I would rather these chips be included in the known population, rather than the unknown, and perhaps get one or two for myself. Advise by private e:mail is completely acceptable, and will remain private, or feel free to post your comments here.

Thanks, Jim Follis