While Steve's attempt at a "hoax" has been exposed, here are a couple of facts that drive home the whole point of grading/slabbing.... none of it very complimentary. If Steve's "slabbed chip" were realy so ... it would not carry the designation "MS61" or "PL".
For the novice, let's take the easy one first ... "PL".
"PL" stands for "ProofLike".... a term that casino chips will never fall under because chips have no deep mirror reflective surfaces like coins do that would qualify them as "proof" or "prooflike".
"MS" stands for MintState. Since chips are not "minted" as coins are, there is no such term as mint state to describe chips.
"61" represents a mint state grade. In coin parlance, there are 11 grades of "uncirculated" .... from 60 to 70. The higher the number, the higher the grade ... the higher the price.... and here is where slabbing becomes most abusive. Each point above 61 adds a significant degree of value in coins. Apply this factor to grading chips by the numbers and you can see why significant numbers of collectors in the chip hobby are so adamantly opposed to slabbing.
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