... Rene:

>> The reason steve but his grading system in his book. Is so that you guys adopt it. He will start his new company and slab your chips for a $1 per chip. Pretty smart man huh. Cares about the hobby a lot. <<

There is no way in the world that chips can be slabbed for $1 each. Seems to me the going rate for slabbing coins is more like $35 a crack (not sure of the exact amount, though). The founder of PCGS, which is one of the two primary slabbing services for coins, is a multi-millionaire.

A slabbing service is meaningless unless there are many, virtually insignificant differences in grading, which only a supposed "expert" can evaluate. The difference of one grade (say MS-66 or MS-67) in coins can mean the difference of THOUSANDS of dollars in "value".

Draw your own conclusions. I for one will never own a slabbed chip. And I won't buy any chip that has been graded by this so-called "official" system.

----- jim o\-S