Newb question here. I'm a casual collector in that I've been collecting $1 chips from places I go to for the past few years and only recently started trading extras and such for other casinos. I have a modest collection of about 80 chips but i've personally collected in excess of 60 of them (including some from Macau!) from the tables.

I don't collect for value so much as collect from places I've been first and just miscellaneous other chips second.

I have a question about chip value though. I see a lot of people collect chips with face values greater than $5. I can see saving the $1 and $5 chips because they're relatively cheap enough to save when you are playing, although certainly $5 a pop for a souvenir can certainly start to add up. But......I see a lot of people with $25 and $100 chips in their collection and even higher ($500, $1000) on occasion. Clearly these people didn't simply pocket these chips one day while they were at the casino did they? I guess the random $25 would be okay but unless you've got nothing better to spend money on then they bought these chips for below face value right?

Does a chip instantly drop below face value when it is obsoleted from a casino? I know that something is worth (value) only what another person is willing to pay for it so I can see why the $1 and $5 face value chips that aren't necessarily scarce but maybe aren't in circulation any longer cost a few bucks more than face. But, the higher denomination chips, unless they're valuable for some other reason to a collector (limited edition for example) are certainly only worth a marginal sum even though they may once have actually had cash value at their face denomination right?

So, the short question is simply how do people acquire higher denomination chips and what would they typically pay.

Thanks for the help. I've been learning more since I found this site.

Michael