Starting a Collection (Beginner’s Questions)

[Stuey]

Sorry if this has been covered, I even looked in the archives.

I want to start collecting poker chips. Not entire sets but individual chips with interesting backgrounds. Here are my questions.

1. What are some interesting categories that a collection could be based on?
2. How do you authenticate a poker chip?
3. Who are the most reputable buyers/sellers of these chips?
4. Can I damage old chips if I don’t care for them properly?
5. If I don’t want old or rare chips is there a way to purchase individual chips? Say I asked you all to sell me one of every different paulason you own, would anyone do it? Does splitting a set lower its value too much to consider doing this?

[tomb1]

EBay -- it's the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's not everything, but it's got just about everything you want, especially as a beginner. Just start searching. Set up a Paypal account and be ready to spend LOTS of cash.

And look into the chip collectors group -- CC&GTCC http://www.ccgtcc.com/ Lots of good info there, and it's something to join if you want to become a serious collector.

Then there's Chip Guide, an excellent source of pictures and info about chips all over the country: http://www.chipguide.com/ It's a terrific effort by Greg Susong & his collaborators, and free to all of us out here.

1. As far as categories, whatever floats your boat. If I had the money I'd collect $100 chips, but I collect $5's instead. Pick anything you want, from naked brothel girls to motorcycles to New Years to musicians, and you can collect chips about that subject.

2. You can authenticate chips thru ChipGuide. Once you get familiar with chips, you can almost tell by feel. If buying from eBay, look at feedback ratings for the sellers -- reputable sellers have good merch.

3. Good question. I've never gad a bad experience on eBay with chips (and only a few problems with other things), but I'm kinda careful what I buy. There are many other online sites for collectible chips, try Google for starters, or http://www.oldvegaschips.com/index.html or the categories down the left at http://www.dice702.com/ or http://www.antiquegamblingchips.com/ for antique chips, or many other sites.

4. Nah, chips last forever and you don't have to do anything to them. Some people want to clean them, and some prefer to leave them in the condition they bought them. Other than soaking them in WD-40, it's tough to hurt them.

5. ???