Charles:

What you wrote is what I had been thinking obsolete meant. But let me give you a concrete example.

Gold Coast issued a 25 cent chip in 1986. There's a sort of box in the inlay with GC 25 (cent mark) inside that. Then they issued new 25 cent chips in 1990 and 1992 that have a plain inlay with 25 (cent mark) in the middle. Another one with a Cowboy on a bronco was issued in 1997. The Chip Guide has all 4 of them listed as Current. The same thing is true for the $5 chips. BUT, the $1 chips that have a similar pattern are showing the first two as obsolete!

This is what confused me and made me ask the question in the first place.