I have always liked to actually handle the chips in my hand and to look them over. My early attraction to collecting chips was to have used them in play and then tucked them away as part of the memory. I have been collecting chips since 1960 and never knew there were others that collected them until the early 1990's. The slabbing of chips has been covered in depth many time on this board. I am also one of the early members of the "Slabfree" membership.

We all value chips in our own way! We have a number of members in our midst who have catalogued chips, tracked sales, gathered extensive historical information and shared information that has allowed us all to increase our knowldge of the rarity and general availabilty of most chips. The knowledge base continues to increase and, yet, we each still possess our own "ranking" and valuation of chips according to our individual likes and dislikes.

If we "turn over" the valuation and subjective appraisal of our chips to a "chosen few," I fear our great hobby and passion will move in the general direction of numismatics. That is, buying and selling for profit rather than fun.

Just a few thoughs on the subject.

Rich Hodges
LM-4210-168