Jim, you might just want to add one more sentence to your explaination dealing the amount of profit the IRS is going to determine one made if the seller can't prove what he originally paid for the chip.

E.g. did the seller save that rare $0.25¢ chip for 30 years that he received $150.00 for on Ebay or did he purchase it for $165.00 two weeks ago and took a $15.00 loss.

I know you didn't want to go into detail, but I thought possibly this one additional comment was necessary.