Hi Gene,
I know that the Wild Card in Black Hawk had their $1 chip for sale in the gift shop (I might have bought the last two back in February) for $5 each, and the Black Diamond in Cripple Creek kinda blurred the line between itself and the Silver Spur by having the Silver Spur $1, $5, & $25 set in a velvet jeweler's box for sale at the video poker bar that appears to be the dividing line between the two (Silver Spur is supposed to be occupying the old Wild Wild West property) at slightly over face (to cover the cost of the case) plus sales tax. They are clearly skirting any conflicts by selling them as souvenirs where the Gaming Comission is concerned. ..come to think of it, I also bought an obsolete $5 Bi-Metal Gold Rush token from the gift shop there, also paying sales tax on it, at face.

I know that there is also at least one casino in Central City that has a display case of obsolete CO chips and tokens in their gift shop area that is set up much like one would expect to find in a place like the Gaming Times showroom, collector priced and all! I don't remember which one it is...

Do we still buy them? I have mixed feelings on this. ..I'd rather be able to buy them at face plus tax, or, as in the case of the Wild Card, over face plus tax than see them locked up in a vault, or destroyed, with no one having shared knowledge of what happened to them (and I'n talking regular house chips). I can't find out what Maverick's did with their $1 house chips, yet know someone who has a 100 piece rack (rack included) for sale at $3000. Can this person come up with 1 or 2 or 10 more racks? I don't know. I'd rather be able to buy the chip from the casino, or at the very least, be able to find out what happened to the whole issue of that chip.

Bob