Katie,

There is more than one way that this can happen. For example, the Continental closed recently without warning. If people had $100 chips stuck away in a sock drawer, suddenly those chips were just so many pieces of clay composition, or plastic, or whatever.

Add to that, if someone on the inside managed to grab a box of those chips when it was time for them to be destroyed, those might find their way into the collectors' market either in small amounts or in large amounts. Scarcity, obviously, is part of what collectors value.

Another way that this can happen is when a casino "calls in" a particular chip or rack of chips. A date is given as a deadline for redeeming these chips, after which they will no longer be accepted. Again, they become just little pieces of clay.

More experienced/knowlegable collectors than I can probably explain far better than I.

Kerry