Just as an adjunct to Gene's post, although I have never been able to buy currents chip for below face, I have purchased many current commemorative chips at face value. These came from desirable locations such as Nevada, Colorado, South Dakota, etc. And to make matters even more interesting, I was able to pick and choose. I did not have to buy complete collections.

I have bought obsoletes at below face value (usually $1.00 each,) however, these were California chips and in my opinion, still not worth more that I paid for them. They are from closed card rooms and are not what I consider attractive; mostly worn, many hot stamped and some I won't even put in my book, but I will keep them.

This just all goes to verify my claim that the values attributable to a lot of commemorative chips by many authors have little validity if one has patience and wishes to shop around. True, I see many dealers pricing their commemorative at prices even higher then are published and receiving them, but I don't believe this to be the norm. (possibly wishful thinking)