Know anything about the quirkiness of these old Excalibur quarterpie $1s? (1 Viewer)

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There are some strange things about these very cool chips. I've got about 170 of them now, and I may have to go through and start sorting them. Because there are 3 three different versions of this chip, according to the chip guide, and I'm not convinced that is all. In going through mine, I noticed the occasional yellowed inlay, which happens sometimes when people display a chip in the sun for too long. Or so I thought. But I just hit the chipguide page for these for the first time and learned that one version has white inlays, one has the browish inlays, and one version has one of each. How bizarre. So I started flipping though my chips, and sure enough, it's true. Although the pictures on chipguide aren't perfect because from what I've sorted out so far, the chip that has two yellowed inlays are the lighter yellow, and on the chip that has one of each, the yellowed one is darker, more brownish.

Another oddity is that the inserts are slightly different colors - one version has inserts that are a darker, more purplish blue. I don't know if those are actually a different Paulson color or just a color variation due to batch. And from what I've seen, the purplish ones weigh almost a gram less. Normally that would indicate unleaded clay, but the chipguide says that version is from 1990. But maybe the date is wrong, or maybe more were produced later? Who knows. This is why I want to sort through mine.

Oh, and finally, why are there so many of these chips that appear mint or near near mint? I know you'll come across a lot of mint chips when you're going through singles, because collectors will save a mint chip and keep it mint. But the percentage of these that are truly minty is way off - there are just too many of them. I'd be surprised to hear that collectors were harvesting mint chips in the '90s. Maybe these were sold off before the nevada chip destruction law (when did that law go into effect?)

Anyway, if anybody has any knowledge or speculation, lets hear it!

60D3A62C-688B-4FEF-82D0-00F13AC8463F.jpeg
 
Nice chips!

It looks like that $1 was in play for a long time, which means that there were multiple re-orders over the years. That usually explains color and inlay variations.

I think the darker inlay is more likely discolored. If there are only a few, I would guess water, light, or smoke discoloration, but if there are a lot it could be a manufacturing/printing defect. I can't imagine anyone wanting their inlay to be that color.
 
Haha. I just sat down and tried sorting through the chips. This isn’t a task that’s doable under a yellow incandescent bulb.
Ha. Maybe I’ll have time during the day tomorrow in the natural light.
 
For starters, they aren't quarter-pies. Paulson has never produced a true 1/4-pie chip, unlike TRK or Burt/ASM/CPC. The Paulson P3 spot pattern is actually a 2114 or 2a114 pattern, with two 1-1/4" inserts (sometimes with alternating colors).

Those chips definitely have different color spots, however -- some are purple, and others are one (or more) of the several blue hues that Paulson offered back then. An intentional change? Perhaps, maybe due to color transfer issues. Or maybe just a production error. Maybe a new color was introduced and the casino liked it better. Hard to say without the order cards or production mockup proofs.

I agree with @gmunny on the inlay colors, though -- I think the variations are due to age and/or exposure, and not as-produced by the factory.
 
Super cool chips. I agree about the color difference being because of age or exposure. Check out the other colors in the inlay - the red has turned almost pink and the blue is a lot lighter.
 
Yeah, you guys are right about the inlay differences. I’m the guy who says at least once a week that you can’t believe anything you read on Chipguide, then I fall for it. Dummy.
But I’m still curious about how so many of these mint chips came to market. And I wonder if it’s related to how many of the inlays are yellowed. Like, did somebody buy racks and racks of mint chips and then leave them by the window? Ha. I dunno.
 
For starters, they aren't quarter-pies. Paulson has never produced a true 1/4-pie chip, unlike TRK or Burt/ASM/CPC. The Paulson P3 spot pattern is actually a 2114 or 2a114 pattern, with two 1-1/4" inserts (sometimes with alternating colors).
Fair point, but when I say “Excalibur quarter pie $1” lots of people know exactly which chip I’m talking about.
If I’d said any of the more accurate terms you mentioned, far fewer people would know which chip I was talking about.
 
Fair point, but when I say “Excalibur quarter pie $1” lots of people know exactly which chip I’m talking about.
If I’d said any of the more accurate terms you mentioned, far fewer people would know which chip I was talking about.
I just refer to 'em as quasi-quarterpies or faux-quarterpies. :cool
 

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