I think you're close, Jill. Here's my definition.

IF the casino had them, would you be able to get them from the casino for face?

I think that would cover every possible permutation. Casino closed? Obsolete. Casino refuses to redeem? Obsolete. Turn one in at the casino, they immediately take it to the vault, refuse to sell it, throw it in concrete at their next opportunity? Obsolete. Old tired chips still on the tables with the new ones? Not obsolete. Old chips not on the tables but at the cage, sold to whoever asks for them? Not obsolete. LEs sold out, but the dealer who overstocked gets tired of holding them, turns them in, now you can buy them? Not obsolete. Casino did a redemption on the LEs? No redemption, but everytime they come in they vanish forever? Obsolete.

The thing we have to understand as collectors is, we live, breathe and collect at the mercy of the casinos and the regulators. We don't always get a straight answer to what the casino's intention towards a chip is. One cage manager insists they don't exist. Another asks how many do you want.

And a chip can be obsolete one day, and current the next. Like this Bonanza chip. Dredged out of obsolescence as a cheap way to upgrade from quarter craps to dollar craps. An H in TCR one day, no better than a B the next. For all the chips that go the other way in a blink of an eye, it's a risk I accept as part of this insane game we call chippin'.