Michael,
All "small towns" of Nevada are/will be the new collecting area. Quality Las Vegas chips are, in my opinion, WAY OVER priced. New as well as old collectors can not afford to collect them. Small towns are still in a price range the average collector can afford. The chips are rich in history and offer new collectors an opportunity to "get in" at reasonable prices.

I have heard some of the hot stamp chips in the $30 to $100 price range have been restruck by individuals who have the proper blanks and dies. I wouldn't let that discourage me no more than any other problem in the hobby.They will be caught. You see greed will be the element that will eventually do them in.

Now on the price difference, in your particular case, I would say James is closer in value then TCR. I have often made offers to purchase certain chips at TCR value (when I know the value is stated incorrectly). This may be one of those cases. I would have to do more research but for this chip I would go with the value James assigned. Let me state it another way. I'm a buyer at $1.00 and/or $2.00 but can not find any for sale at that price.

Hope this helps.
Jim