The correct use of MINT in describing chips (1 Viewer)

[ovo]

Hi guys,

This has always been a pet peeve for me. In my early years of chipping, I had been sold chips described as mint and when they arrived, they were not mint. This left bitter feelings about this community of chippers in general. Some people are knowledgeable and helpful, and well meaning, and some people are uncaring and ignorant about the world of chipping. If you call slightly used chips mint and sell them to a new person in the chipping community, they in turn will pass that concept onto the next person, and bad transactions will continue down the line.
I am tired of seeing this happen, sometimes by well known chippers who have been around as long as I. I will take a stand against all comers on this issue. If you list your chips as mint, and they clearly are not, you will hear about it from me.

Mint chips are unused chips. Dirt and wear marks should not be on MINT chips. If you shuffle mint chips, they are no longer mint, (unless there are no markings to prove it There are mint chips that come from unknown sources and may or may not be mint, but if there are obvious signs of dirt and wear, then they are clearly not MINT. I can see how mint chips might get some scuff marks, if they were thrown all together and stored in that manner, similar to mint coins, which have a mint grading system, but usually chips are stored by the rack and wouldn't have scuff marks on them like coins.

Better terms for describing your chips are Slightly Used Condition or even Near mint, But not MINT , unless they are truly mint.

I tried to call out a member on a poor description, to educate, I should have just sent a personal message to begin with. I was told it's none of my f'ing business. Well, It is my business. I've been in the community since 2006 and I'm making it my business, for the sake of a better community. Frank

 

[Lash]

If you have used jack chips in a game they are no longer mint.

 

[Perthmike]

I just put mint chips loose in my backpack, I'm walking real slow. Are they still mint

In all seriousness though I agree with your point. For the most part I don't like to comment on condition and would rather post photos of the edges.

 

[superchromix]

Completely agree with your post @ovo. One of my favourite pet peeves, is when the seller in a classified ad describes the chips as: “Sold to me as mint”

 

[CacheCreekCollector]

Hi guys,

This has always been a pet peeve for me. In my early years of chipping, I had been sold chips described as mint and when they arrived, they were not mint. This left bitter feelings about this community of chippers in general. Some people are knowledgeable and helpful, and well meaning, and some people are uncaring and ignorant about the world of chipping. If you call slightly used chips mint and sell them to a new person in the chipping community, they in turn will pass that concept onto the next person, and bad transactions will continue down the line.
I am tired of seeing this happen, sometimes by well known chippers who have been around as long as I. I will take a stand against all comers on this issue. If you list your chips as mint, and they clearly are not, you will hear about it from me.

Mint chips are unused chips. Dirt and wear marks should not be on MINT chips. If you shuffle mint chips, they are no longer mint, (unless there are no markings to prove it There are mint chips that come from unknown sources and may or may not be mint, but if there are obvious signs of dirt and wear, then they are clearly not MINT. I can see how mint chips might get some scuff marks, if they were thrown all together and stored in that manner, similar to mint coins, which have a mint grading system, but usually chips are stored by the rack and wouldn't have scuff marks on them like coins.

Better terms for describing your chips are Slightly Used Condition or even Near mint, But not MINT , unless they are truly mint.

I tried to call out a member on a poor description, to educate, I should have just sent a personal message to begin with. I was told it's none of my f'ing business. Well, It is my business. I've been in the community since 2006 and I'm making it my business, for the sake of a better community. Frank

Amen.
Really disliked the way "Mint" and "Near mint" were so loosely being thrown around in the classifieds. If you've put chips in play, shuffled them, etc. - they are not mint.

 

[Zmasterben]

I've used a term in some of my listings and PMs that I learned from card collecting that have confused some people. NRM+. It mean's "near mint plus" aka "near mint or better." If you've ever used a chip in a game it isn't mint, plain and simple.

 

[links_slayer]

Just post pics and let the buyers decide.

 

[Coyote]

Descriptive terms, like "home used, could use some cleaning" or "very lightly home-used, still clean", or "casino-used, worn and filthy, needing cleaning" or "casino-used, worn but cleaned and oiled" are better than ranking them as "fair", "exclellent", "near-mint" or whatever. This, in absence of clear pictures.
Truth is MINT should only mean unused, at least in a game.

 

[ovo]

Descriptive terms, like "home used, could use some cleaning" or "very lightly home-used, still clean", or "casino-used, worn and filthy, needing cleaning" or "casino-used, worn but cleaned and oiled" are better than ranking them as "fair", "exclellent", "near-mint" or whatever. This, in absence of clear pictures.
Truth is MINT should only mean unused, at least in a game.

If used in just one game , they are no longer mint, but I agree with your extra descriptive terms very much

 

[superchromix]

Just post pics and let the buyers decide.

Unfortunately, pictures are often insufficient to determine chip condition, especially for excellent/near mint/mint chips.

 

[links_slayer]

Unfortunately, pictures are often insufficient to determine chip condition, especially for excellent/near mint/mint chips.

Then ask for better pics

 

[johnjohn]

ship all your near-mint chips to me for proper disposal. All your aged rum too.

 

[Hornet]

So here’s a question ... suppose you sell chips to a PCF member that clearly are not mint and were described as used in a home game. Then you see an eBay listing with (what you think are) those same chips listed as mint. What to do? Just bitch about it in this thread I guess.

 

[ovo]

So here’s a question ... suppose you sell chips to a PCF member that clearly are not mint and were described as used in a home game. Then you see an eBay listing with (what you think are) those same chips listed as mint. What to do? Just bitch about it in this thread I guess.

I don't know eBay policy , you can send the seller a message if it bothers you

 

[gmunny]

There have been a few posts about condition definitions. Just for folks that have not seen it, here is a poll in which i referred to the CCA's definition, which i will re-post below. You will note that term "Mint" is not used. I think the term leaves too much wiggle room. I generally use the below terms when grading my chips, but for Avg, i use Avg+/Avg/Avg-.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/what-is-your-definition-of-“mint”.28676/#post-531689


The Casino Collector's Association (CCA or previously CCGTCC) has defined grading descriptions for chips and tokens that I think is useful since many of our sets come from Casinos:

• New - Appears not to have been used in games; square and round edge chips will be as from the manufacturer with absolutely no wear, no dings or nicks; no scratches on surface of chip or inlay.
• Slightly Used - Only slight signs of use, edge still crisp but ever so slightly dulled with very little wear; cross hatching may show slight wear near edge; few or no edge nicks; still retains luster in mold design; bold hot- stamp; inlays excellent.
• Average - Typical chip found in play after months/years of use; slightly rounded edges; will have minor defects such as small nicks on edges; inlays are beginning to show even wear and about half of the cross hatching has worn from the body surface; hot-stamps have dulled, beginning to show even wear and may be missing a small amount of foil.
• Well Used - Moderate and uniform wear of edge, surface and hot stamp; noticeable edge nicks and/or surface scratches; no luster in mold design; cross hatching is nearly worn off; hot-stamp is still readable but much of the foil is missing.
• Poor - Edges that were formerly sharp and square, are now well worn like bicycle tires; original hot-stamp foil is mostly missing with only the recesses visible (may have to hold towards a light); moderate to large chips (nicks); surface cross hatching barely visible (if at all); severe scratches to inlay or chip surface; severe color fading; partial wear up to half of CHIPCO design from the edge to the center of the chip. (Damage, such as cracks, breaks, missing inlay or other chip structure, do not apply to this category.)

The list also has definitions for Cancelled, Modified, Damaged, etc. Here is the link:

http://www.ccgtcc.com/education/conditions.pdf

 

[Mr Winberg]

I sold some chips which I described as "mint chips" to a PCF:er at around $2 a chip, which I thought was more than fair, but when he received them he demanded a refund. You tell me, was he out of line?

Spoiler: Mint chips or not?

 

[MrCatPants]

We need this for poker chips.

But agree with previous postings - almost nothing is mint - everything is at best near mint, and most things that sell would probably be in a "good" category (or poor in some cases).

 

[BGinGA]

There have been a few posts about condition definitions. Just for folks that have not seen it, here is a poll in which i referred to the CCA's definition, which i will re-post below. You will note that term "Mint" is not used. I think the term leaves too much wiggle room. I generally use the below terms when grading my chips, but for Avg, i use Avg+/Avg/Avg-.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/what-is-your-definition-of-“mint”.28676/#post-531689


The Casino Collector's Association (CCA or previously CCGTCC) has defined grading descriptions for chips and tokens that I think is useful since many of our sets come from Casinos:

• New - Appears not to have been used in games; square and round edge chips will be as from the manufacturer with absolutely no wear, no dings or nicks; no scratches on surface of chip or inlay.
• Slightly Used - Only slight signs of use, edge still crisp but ever so slightly dulled with very little wear; cross hatching may show slight wear near edge; few or no edge nicks; still retains luster in mold design; bold hot- stamp; inlays excellent.
• Average - Typical chip found in play after months/years of use; slightly rounded edges; will have minor defects such as small nicks on edges; inlays are beginning to show even wear and about half of the cross hatching has worn from the body surface; hot-stamps have dulled, beginning to show even wear and may be missing a small amount of foil.
• Well Used - Moderate and uniform wear of edge, surface and hot stamp; noticeable edge nicks and/or surface scratches; no luster in mold design; cross hatching is nearly worn off; hot-stamp is still readable but much of the foil is missing.
• Poor - Edges that were formerly sharp and square, are now well worn like bicycle tires; original hot-stamp foil is mostly missing with only the recesses visible (may have to hold towards a light); moderate to large chips (nicks); surface cross hatching barely visible (if at all); severe scratches to inlay or chip surface; severe color fading; partial wear up to half of CHIPCO design from the edge to the center of the chip. (Damage, such as cracks, breaks, missing inlay or other chip structure, do not apply to this category.)

The list also has definitions for Cancelled, Modified, Damaged, etc. Here is the link:

http://www.ccgtcc.com/education/conditions.pdf

The problem with the CCA guidelines is that it's missing way too many appicable conditions for poker chips.

Near-new (or near-mint), for chips that are NOT mint/new but otherwise still in perfect condition, and several categories between their 'slightly-used' and 'average' conditions (need at least two, imo). Once it gets past 'average' as they describe it, who cares.

 

[allforcharity]

Too many categories. I only use 3 ranges. Anything better doesn't really exist. Anything worse should not be sold.

 

[MrCatPants]

Agree that it's too many - but suggesting we need something simplified and consistent. I wouldn't be the one to write it, but something like...

Mint/Near Mint - sharp edges, minimal to no signs of use
Excellent - edges no longer sharp, minimal flea bites, etc.
Good - edges slightly rounded, flea-bites out of a third of the chips or more, mold/cross hatching wear, etc.
Chunked out bicycle tires

 

[TheOctagon]

My favorite is when people are shilling some half baked ugly hot stamp set with who-knows-whose initials on it or a completely moronic numbering system and the best they can say is, “Who doesn’t want some fresh ‘minty’ Paulsons for their new player friend????!!”

Sure. Like the spurious claim of ‘minty’ is going to get me past the drab colors, terrible breakdown, and the fact that my initials are not JLQ.

 

[Coyote]

My favorite is when people are shilling some half baked ugly hot stamp set with who-knows-whose initials on it or a completely moronic numbering system and the best they can say is, “Who doesn’t want some fresh ‘minty’ Paulsons for their new player friend????!!”

Sure. Like the spurious claim of ‘minty’ is going to get me past the drab colors, terrible breakdown, and the fact that my initials are not JLQ.

My initials are NY, so I haven't lost all hope

 

[Zmasterben]

My initials are NY, so I haven't lost all hope

REAL chipper parents will give their kids initials that are more likely to show up as hot stamps on custom Paulsons.

 

[allforcharity]

My favorite is when people are shilling some half baked ugly hot stamp set with who-knows-whose initials on it or a completely moronic numbering system and the best they can say is, “Who doesn’t want some fresh ‘minty’ Paulsons for their new player friend????!!”

Sure. Like the spurious claim of ‘minty’ is going to get me past the drab colors, terrible breakdown, and the fact that my initials are not JLQ.

Well, I sell this stuff. And it's usually for milling. And some of it, indeed, is in Excellent to Near Mint condition. And I would take a good condition solid Paulson THC over any cheap plastic or China Clay out there, no matter what spots are on it.

 

[TheOctagon]

Well, I sell this stuff. And it's usually for milling. And some of it, indeed, is in Excellent to Near Mint condition. And I would take a good condition solid Paulson THC over any cheap plastic or China Clay out there, no matter what spots are on it.

Then are you like the person I described or are you selling legitimate, as-advertised merchandise intended for customization and using the proceeds for good and uplifting causes?

 

[allforcharity]

Then are you like the person I described or are you selling legitimate, as-advertised merchandise intended for customization and using the proceeds for good and uplifting causes?

Respectfully, I must consult me legal counsel before attempting to answer that question.