I wouldn't have thought the plastic would be soft enough to die cut. Maybe they use heated dies to melt through the sheet?

Your speculation regarding the fusing of the pieces together before the final step makes sense. Again I would think heat would be required to make a perfect joint, but maybe the injected plastic is hot enough to do that anyway.

Someday, when all the casinos stop using chips and become automated, maybe we can get the real scoop about how ALL the various chip manufacturing processes work.

Thanks!