Tampered?

That indicates that someone has attempted to change the chips condition for sale.

I assume you are referring to the removal of the Hot stamp rather than the Hot stamping process itself.

THe seller of my chip was very open about the Hot stamp being on the chip and the it had been removed. I can't remember it it was done by the seller, or just a fact disclosed by the seller when I purchased it.

After some thought, I think I have to agree with your assessment that the chip was tampered with at some point. The tampering was, however disclosed ot me before I bought the chip.