Are 20x-face-value-in-a-decade regular-issue chips still available on casino tables today, or are they a relic of the past? Here's what I'm referring to:

About a decade ago (1989-92), you could have walked into Franklin Bros. Casino, a small downtown casino located where the Orbit Inn used to be, and pick up their $5 regular-issue chip directly off the table. In fact, that's where I got the chip in the scan below. It was just a small joint with a couple of tables, but the collecting was simple enough -- buy in, pocket a couple of chips, cash out and leave.

In the ensuing years, the hobby has expanded enough so that the supply/demand balance for this chip has run the list price to about $100 or 20x face value. (Of course, I wasn't smart enough to pocket a few stacks, just 2 or 3 chips, of which I sold/traded all but 1 for just a few $ over face at the time.)

Granted, this is not a typical $5 chip of 10 years ago. The Mirage also opened in 1989, and its 1st issue regular chips in new condition only sell for $10 or so today, because there are a lot more of them.

My question is -- how likely is it for a chipper to pick up a regular-issue chip today, hold it for 10 years and sell it for 20x face? I'm not including the anomoly chips like the LE Riviera porno chips, or restricted issues like the Mandalay Bay snake chips or HR 2000 Cinco de Mayo chips, etc. Nor error chips like the Caesars $5 chips with a 4th set of inserts. Only regular-issue chips that a typical out-of-town chipper could pick up on their next trip, then put away for 10 years.

The only chip that might fit this description is the $5 NUTT chip which sells today in the $15-$20 range, I think. Maybe it will be a $100 chip by 2011? Or maybe enough dealers have even stocked up on this chip so it won't reach 20x levels in 10 years.

Do you have any nominations for a regular-issue chips that may be a 20x/10years performers? Not just LV or Nevada. It can be anywhere.

(I'm mostly focusing on $5 or higher chips that can hurdle the 20x barrier. There may be some $1 chips, or especially fractional chips that will sell for 20x in 10 years.)

Or do you think that the numbers of chip collectors and dealers in the hobby today have stocked up sufficiently on EVERY regular issue chip such that a 20x/10year chip is a thing of the past?

Let's hear your nominations, if you think a chip can make this hurdle.