... that it was originally a scam. The chips were sold to Terry Lazarus, represented by the seller (an Ore House owner) as old and having been found under a floorboard at the Ore House when it was being renovated. See this post by Terry announcing the "find":

http://www.thechipboard.com/cgi-bin/tcbarc02/tcbarc02.pl?read=24998

It says, in part:

>> One day, while working near a crawl space leading under the building, one of the owners noticed that adjacent floorboards also needed to be replaced. Under one of these he noticed a number of small boxes. In these boxes was…you guessed it…casino chips.

>> Four different denominations were found. All are identical except for their color. All say the same thing: “ORE HOUSE CASINO RENO NV.” The new owners knew one thing immediately…they had found the name for their cabaret!

Terry later posted another message at:

http://www.thechipboard.com/cgi-bin/tcbarc04/tcbarc04.pl?read=117477

It says in part:

>> I’ve paid a lot of money (for me anyway) to buy chips that the seller said were found under floor boards and which were supposed to be 30 years old. Largely do to the help of one of our finest chip detectives and the cooperation of one of the major chip manufacturers, I found out the chips were closer to 30 months old.

----- jim o\-S