If by chance you're luck enough to get in on the right shipment of REAL casino chips from a vendor that was fortunate to get the chips as the casino went out of business, you might make some money. Such as Jim at TheChipRoom sold a set called the PCA's (Presidents Casino on the Admiral I think). Anyway, I bought a bunch and loved them, however being a poker chip addict I decide to sell them a couple years later to buy something else. FIRST time I'd ever actually made money on selling chips I think. 100% of the time any chip I purchased from a retail site that was a "fantasy" chip (made up casino name like "Pharaohs"), I'm lost money. I'm sure there are a few exceptions to that, but clays do hold their value more than ceramics from my experience.