Given how the chips are pressed, they come out of the mold looking like this.
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I’m not sure on the specifics, but they essentially get lathed to remove the “flash” or excess material that creates what would be a “part line” on more common molded parts. It appears this is an imprecise, hand-calibrated process with some inconsistencies, potentially due to worn tooling, operator error, or even slight inconsistencies in chip diameter. At the end of the day, CPCs are custom chips made by hand with a great deal of small quirks, but that makes them unique and almost more of an artisan feel. If I want more precise consistent chips, I’ll buy Paulsons - their manufacturing process has been more automated ($$$) for much longer dictated by their production volumes and customer base. Mint, machine produced RHCs don’t do much for me, and custom Paulsons aren’t available (to most of us), so I’ll take my CPCs any day over most mint Paulsons available at that price point.
That said, I’m not in love with the “split” 6d18 spots on my secondary $100s, as you don’t get as much of the contrasting colors as I’d like, but I’m still in love with the chips.
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And yes, a few of my chips (pics posted earlier by Ventura) exhibit this speed bump, but it is barely noticeable, can’t be felt, and will probbaly wear down over time, oh well.