"If a casino issues a Chip which is only available for purchase at the cage is it still a Chip Or must a chip be won at a table?

Peter; I would say, "yes", that your hypothetical example still qualifies as a chip ... and Jerry's example qualifies as a token ... but not a "Silver Strike".

According to the full page ad on the inside cover of the current issue of the club magazine... which was overprinted "SOLD OUT" before the "invited" CC & GTCC membership could even have the opportunity to sign up ... or even knew about it.... this PARTICIPANT'S PRIZE TOKEN will say "World's First Silver Strike Tournament". That does not make it a "Silver Strike" in my opinion ... nor does the gold-plated prize tokens make them $20 gold pieces!

In my personal opinion they are simply Limited Edition tokens that were issued to commemorate a casino event in which people paid $300 each to participate in .... no different than the sets of poker tournament chips that were given to each participant in the club's convention poker tournament ... which BTW ... were also made available for purchase by those who DID NOT participate in the tournament.