suggest that one way to tell if a real ivory chcip with a design is a "fake" chip is to carefully examine the chip; the modern etchers often use concentric chips without any design and then put the design in. The design is usually very new and with a different dye than may be on the ring. Some "creators" sand off or remove a faded interior design and add a new design; close inspection will usually show the remnants of the old design around the edge of the chip next to the circle. Seymour's book "Ivory Gambling Chps" has 12 pages of recent creations. I own two newly designed chips--one a "20" and the other a nnique set of four chips with a steamer ship top design on one side and denominations on the other. I'll scan these when I get home. In each case, I checked with Dale before buying them and paid very little for them.

I have urged Dale and others to create a display of the new creations for our convention and perhaps some day he (and I) will do so.

You can always call me collect if you find ivories for sale.

But one final warning: some years ago at a large gun show in L.V., a former chipper's wife bought a number of ivory chips spending a lot of money on them; turned out to be fake and the chipper was so bitter he stopped collecting.