Hi Dennis...

The factors involved in assigning values to chips are relatively simple. I look at past sales results as well as the context of the sales. The result should ideally be how a chip dealer would have the chip marked in his binder (ie: a retail value). Obviously there are other factors involved, but generally that's what I look to accomplish.

So, if a given chip (say the Gateway arrowdie) has a recent history of selling on eBay in the $30 - $40 range, I'll assign a "J" value to it. If the eBay auctions of this particular chip end, indicating that the seller who has them has sold his entire inventory, and the odd piece shows up on eBay and sells for $100, I'll probably start raising the book value. This is a recurring phenomenon, by the way. A good example was when Doug Saito years ago got hold of a pretty large group of $5 Bucket Of Blood chips and was selling them for $65 apiece. I lowered the value to around $75 or $80 at that time. When Doug's supply ran out, the sales prices on eBay immediately went back up to the $125 to $150 level that we'd seen before his sale, and I raised the value back up in the next edition.

Additionally, regarding Doug's auctions, you have to realize that although his auctions usually get top prices (and most of the time are very close to our values), he does have a consistent bidding universe. So one thing that you do see with Doug's auctions is that from time to time a chip that might usually sell for $200 on eBay will sell in his auction for $75... because most of his bidders are experienced collectors and just about all of them have the chip (not because they're cheap).

So, the bottom line is that you have to look at sales, put them in context, and be aware of the overall market.

As far as your Reno Casino chip is concerned, I think you're really interested in the level at which the chip sells and why it sells that way, not why I have it listed at a particular value. You have what is a scarce chip and you're wondering why it doesn't sell for thousands of dollars.

Chips' real values have to do with several factors... 1) how scarce it is, 2) its denomination, 3) what it looks like, 4) what city it's from, and 5) what casino it's from.

I can give you these generalities:

1 - As far as looks are concerned, all things being equal, inlaid chips sell at higher prices hotstamped chips. Condition also matters, and with some chips, one in slightly used condition could sell at 10 times the price of one in worn condition (there are some relatively common chips with this type of condition rarity... try finding an uncirculated $5 from Vegas World, for example). Also, there are some great looking chips that are way more common than their prices would indicate, but sell at high prices strictly because of their great looks (think Bucket of Blood $5 or Orbit Inn $100 or Country Club $100).

2 - Chips from small towns usually sell at lower prices than chips from, say, Lake Tahoe or Las Vegas. Same with chips from Reno. These, of course, are just generalities in the broadest sense as there are some very valuable chips from small towns and Reno.

3 - If we're talking about chips from Las Vegas, all things being equal, the casino matters. Chips from the Sands, the Flamingo, and the Dunes seem to sell higher than those from the Aladdin, the Tropicana, and the Stardust, say. Some casinos have a cachet where no matter how many of a chip show up, they always sell at premium prices (think $1 Landmark).

So those factors effect the selling price of your chip. The minuses are: 1) it's hotstamped 2) it's from Reno, 3) it's a fractional (more specifically it's not a $1 or $5 chip).

The plusses, though, are 1) it's a very desirable mold (large crown) and 2) it's old (70 years old), 3) it's fairly scarce (1,000 made), 4) it has an interesting history (I'll let you research that!).