...when looking for chips at a casino or elsewhere....how many people opt for a chip with more "character" (aka dirt) over a chip that looks cleaner and newer. My guess is that most people would choose the cleaner/newer looking chip. If my guess is correct, it seem to reason that most people would prefer the chip to be cleaned. That said, like Michael stated in this thread....in this case, with this older chip, I would probably not clean it either.