Don,

About seven years ago I asked about the yellow 2.50 chip while at Harrah's. I was referred to a lady in charge of the vault who it took several weeks to make contact with. She told me she had a few of these chips that were slated to be destroyed and that after a certain date, she could not sell them to me but would sell the few that she had before that date. I took them all. They all looked like they had seen plenty of action and were unmistakeably used on the tables.

Because of the way I got them and the preciseness of the woman's quoting me "chapter and verse" on what they were, what their fate was and what she could and could not do until exactly what date, I knew that she was official and I knew these came from deep inside the casino. It was a one time offer from the right person that I did not dare to pass up.

That is my recollection of how I got a few of these $2.50s out, Don. I have not tested them and since they are not drilled I would hesitate to subject one to acetone and ruin it, especially if you are right and there are very few authentic originals floating around out there.

If anyone does come up with a way to definitively test these for originality, I would be happy to submit a small sampling of some of the brass cores that I got back when I was going after them 7 years ago.

Best Regards To You