Not Mine Errrr what? (1 Viewer)

[Colquhoun]

Unpressed slug. Pretty rare to be seen outside the factory.

That inlay (which really isn't an inlay yet) is just sitting on top of the material with a dab of adhesive.

It looks like this inlay has been pressed in. You can see the cracking clay around the edges of the inlay.
Is it possible they pressed the inlay in during the 1st compression (seen in step 3 of the orange chip progression above)?
Are shaped inlays treated differently when pressed than round inlays?

 

[GianThaMan]

It looks like this inlay has been pressed in. You can see the cracking clay around the edges of the inlay.
Is it possible they pressed the inlay in during the 1st compression (seen in step 3 of the orange chip progression above)?
Are shaped inlays treated differently when pressed than round inlays?
View attachment 709060

Instead of a round recess being pressed in like the chart shown in an earlier post, a shaped recess is pressed in here to accept the shaped inlay. Paulson may have actually pressed in the inlay into a solid-colored slug rather than press out a recess then place the inlay into the recess, eliminating the use of extra equipment, but also causing off-center and occasionally warped inlays. That pressing happens before the spots are then cut out, which is why you can see the separations between base and spot colors.

 

[Gear]

Looks like you'd expect it to be filled with creamy nougat!

Seriously though, gotta be an unpressed/incomplete chip. No sign of any mold, house or otherwise. Neat!

 

[chipinla]

I’m so confused as to what I feel this could be worth. Nothing or a million dollars ha

 

[BGinGA]

Instead of a round recess being pressed in like the chart shown in an earlier post, a shaped recess is pressed in here to accept the shaped inlay. Paulson may have actually pressed in the inlay into a solid-colored slug rather than press out a recess then place the inlay into the recess, eliminating the use of extra equipment, but also causing off-center and occasionally warped inlays. That pressing happens before the spots are then cut out, which is why you can see the separations between base and spot colors.

Recesses are not shaped. They are created by the shaped inlay.

 

[Colquhoun]

I’m so confused as to what I feel this could be worth. Nothing or a million dollars ha

But one thing’s for sure...this thread dramatically increased the chance that it sells for at least the asking price.

 

[CrazyEddie]

I’m so confused as to what I feel this could be worth. Nothing or a million dollars ha

I feel the same way. It's only of interest to a very few people; even singles collectors aren't likely to pay triple-digits for something literally half-baked, something that was never actually inside a casino. But there's so few of these that a "market price" is basically impossible to assess.

Full disclosure: I'm watching this auction and seriously contemplating bidding on it, but I literally have no idea what I'm willing to spend. I guess I've got six days to figure that out.

If I could wave a magic wand and choose the auction winner I'd want it to go to someone who's making their own chips, like @Grandmasturkey or @Strasser .

 

[CrazyEddie]

finally

 

[CrazyEddie]

Some interesting information:

 

[Grandmasturkey]

This is such a bizarre chip! I'm glad you won it so that you can give us the full report on what it is

 

[CrazyEddie]

Some pr0n for your viewing pleasure.

This unpressed, unmolded, unfinished chip is only slightly larger than a standard finished 39mm THC:

... but it's official casino weight!

Sorry I don't have a higher-resolution scale. It's somewhere between the high end of 14g and the low end of 15g; the scale would switch between 14 and 15 at different moments.

Here's a super close-up, and I'll put a few more in thumbnails. Sorry I'm a lousy photographer. Happy to take more if any of you chip nerds want a better view of something specific.

Just like the seller said, the chip is solid and firm; you can knock it on the table and it gives a satisfying thump. I'm still gonna treat it with kid gloves, of course. It has a nice heft to it, giving the impression of a slugged chip. But the chip IS the slug! And slug is a good word for it based on how it looks and feels; the lack of edge mold debossing and lack of crosshatched molded surface texture are really striking when you hold it in your hand and compare it to a normal THC. The texture is smooth where the chip surface is intact; obviously the transition from the base to a spot has a bump/depression where the two pieces of clay meet. The spots don't seem to be in any danger of falling out; they're firmly in place, and I suspect they're melted together with the base chip further below the surface where you can't really see it.

The inlay is somewhat pressed into the surface of the base chip. In fact, on one of the two sides, the inlay is recessed below the chip surface on one edge while at the same time that same inlay is raised above the chip surface on the opposite edge of the inlay. It's as if someone pressed the inlay into the chip with their thumb, and came down heavier on one side of the inlay than the other. The inlay on the opposite side of the chip is more evenly pressed into the chip surface. But in both cases, it's completely unlike what you get with a fully pressed chip. You can easily feel the edge of the inlay all the way around; it's not smooth, seamless, and flush with the chip surface at all.

And the inlay is amazing! It's shaped, of course, and I really like the gear shape. There's the honeycomb pattern around the outside, and the Bally's hologram in the center is just intense when the light catches it. The inlay surface is super smooth, slick even.

And finally, here's a family picture with a few of my other favorite chips.

 

[Grandmasturkey]

Wow this is so so cool!!!!

 

[CrazyEddie]

The seller shipped it in an Air-Tite that was marked with "30-" in marker. So I'm guessing that at some point this same chip was for sale, somewhere, by someone, for thirty bucks.

Someone's investment certainly paid off. They just had to find the right sucker (me). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Ridiculously cool! So I assume you do not have a regular Bally's $100 to compare to it?

 

[JesterTX]

Super cool! Great find!

 

[CrazyEddie]

Ridiculously cool! So I assume you do not have a regular Bally's $100 to compare to it?

Not YET.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Not YET.

So regarding the weight, if we are assuming this is a chip that got the inlay pressed in, but never received the final press, does this tell us that material is removed during that final press? Or is there some other reason why it is 40-50% heavier than a typical Paulson compression molded chip?

 

[GianThaMan]

So regarding the weight, if we are assuming this is a chip that got the inlay pressed in, but never received the final press, does this tell us that material is removed during that final press? Or is there some other reason why it is 40-50% heavier than a typical Paulson compression molded chip?

Yes, a lot of material is removed during the pressing. You can also see this weight variation among molded chips with different amounts of material removed, for example lammer mold chips being a gram or two heavier than RHC chips, but it’s not as dramatic as this.

Edit: Here’s an image showing some chips after pressing but before finishing, it shows how much material gets pushed out from the base slug:

 

[CrazyEddie]

... and even a little bit more than that is removed during finishing, where they lathe the edges to remove the mold flash and to make the chips uniform in size.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Yes, a lot of material is removed during the pressing. You can also see this weight variation among molded chips with different amounts of material removed, for example lammer mold chips being a gram or two heavier than RHC chips, but it’s not as dramatic as this.

Edit: Here’s an image showing some chips after pressing but before finishing, it shows how much material gets pushed out from the base slug:
View attachment 719980

Thanks for sharing! I had never thought to look for photos of the process.

 

[BGinGA]

Nice snag, @CrazyEddie -- very rare object you have there. Thanks for sharing pics.